participant
What It Means
A participant is any element that contributes to a process or system - this includes people, computer systems, data sources, business rules, or manual interventions. In research contexts, it specifically refers to living individuals whose data, biological samples, or personal information is collected, studied, or analyzed.
Why Chief AI Officers Care
CAIOs must ensure AI systems properly identify and protect all participants, especially human subjects whose data feeds AI models. Mishandling participant data can lead to severe regulatory violations, privacy breaches, and ethical violations that damage company reputation and result in significant fines.
Real-World Example
When training a healthcare AI model using patient medical records, each patient whose data is included becomes a research participant requiring informed consent, data anonymization, and compliance with medical research regulations - even if the AI team never directly interacts with those patients.
Common Confusion
People often think participants only refer to humans who actively volunteer for studies, but the term actually includes any person whose data is used in research or system processes, regardless of their direct involvement or awareness.
Industry-Specific Applications
See how this term applies to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, government, tech, and insurance.
Healthcare: In healthcare, participants encompass patients, providers, systems, and devices involved in care delivery, clinical rese...
Finance: In finance, participants encompass all entities involved in financial processes, including trading counterparties, clear...
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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
"A computer system, data, input, business rule, human intervention, and other contributor to the flow of a process."Source: IEEE_Guide_IPA
"a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research: (i) Obtains information or biospecimens through intervention or interaction with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information or biospecimens; or (ii) Obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information or identifiable biospecimens."Source: 45_CFR_46_2018_Requirements_(2018_Common_Rule)
Related Terms
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