human-in-the-loop
What It Means
Human-in-the-loop refers to AI systems that are designed to include human oversight, input, or decision-making at critical points in their operations. Rather than running completely autonomously, these systems pause or flag situations where human judgment, expertise, or approval is needed before proceeding.
Why Chief AI Officers Care
This approach helps manage AI risk by ensuring human accountability and catching potential errors before they impact the business. It's often required for regulatory compliance in high-stakes industries like healthcare, finance, and hiring, where fully automated decisions could create legal liability or reputational damage.
Real-World Example
A bank's loan approval AI system flags mortgage applications that fall into gray areas or exceed certain risk thresholds, requiring a human underwriter to review the application and make the final approval decision rather than letting the AI automatically reject or approve the loan.
Common Confusion
People often think human-in-the-loop means humans are constantly monitoring every AI decision, when it actually means humans are strategically involved at specific decision points. It's also confused with human-on-the-loop, where humans monitor but don't actively participate in decisions.
Industry-Specific Applications
See how this term applies to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, government, tech, and insurance.
Healthcare: In healthcare AI systems, human-in-the-loop design ensures clinical decision support tools require physician review and ...
Finance: In finance, human-in-the-loop systems are essential for high-stakes decisions like loan approvals, trading algorithms, a...
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Includes:
- 6 industry-specific applications
- Relevant regulations by sector
- Real compliance scenarios
- Implementation guidance
Technical Definitions
NISTNational Institute of Standards and Technology
"An AI system that requires human interaction."Source: DOD_Modeling_and_Simulation_Glossary
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