Governance

Human-in-the-Loop (HITL)

Definition

A design pattern where a human must approve or review an AI system's output before it produces a real-world effect. HITL is the strongest form of human oversight and is required for the highest-stakes automated decisions under GDPR Article 22 and the EU AI Act.

Related Terms

Human Oversight

The ability of humans to effectively monitor, intervene in, and override an AI system's outputs. The EU AI Act mandates appropriate human oversight for all high-risk AI systems, requiring technical measures that enable operators to halt or correct the system in real time.

Human-on-the-Loop (HOTL)

A design pattern where an AI system acts autonomously but a human monitors operations and can intervene if needed, rather than approving each action. HOTL balances efficiency with oversight and is appropriate for many high-risk AI use cases where full HITL would be impractical.

Agentic AI

AI systems that autonomously plan, reason, and execute multi-step tasks over extended time horizons without continuous human direction. Agentic AI is moving from demo to production in 2025–26, raising new questions around oversight, auditability, and the EU AI Act's human oversight requirements.

Related Services

Eu Ai Act Compliance

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