AI Governance Engineer
GitHub

AI hazard

By Updated

In the OECD's definition, an event or series of events where the development, use or malfunction of an AI system could plausibly lead to an AI incident 1. A hazard is harm that has not happened yet; a near miss is a hazard a control interrupted.

Developed in
ch. 17, Incident, hazard, issue and serious incident
Chapters
ch. 17, Incidents
Contrast with
AI incident
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

One chapter of the Body of Knowledge uses the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

AI hazard: mentions per chapter4 mentions of the term across 1 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapter17 Incidents: 4 mentions17 Incidents4No mentions in the other 22 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
AI hazard: mentions per chapter4 mentions of the term across 1 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapter0001020304050607081011121314151617 Incidents: 4 mentions417181920212223Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of AI hazard per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns0No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map0No
10 Reading List0No
11 AI Defined0No
12 Governance Program0No
13 Risk Management0No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment0No
16 Fairness & XAI0No
17 Incidents4Yes
18 EU AI Act0No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide0No
22 Principles & Standards0No
23 AI Agents0No
  • 17 · Incidents Opening 4 mentions
AI hazard: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastAI hazardRelated terms (5)AI system · RelatedAI systemIssue (versus incident) · RelatedIssue (versus incident)Near miss · RelatedNear missSerious incident · RelatedSerious incidentWidespread infringement · RelatedWidespread infringementContrast with (1)AI incident · ContrastAI incident
AI hazard: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastRelated terms (5)AI system · RelatedAI systemIssue (versus incident) · RelatedIssue (versus incident)Near miss · RelatedNear missSerious incident · RelatedSerious incidentWidespread infringement · RelatedWidespread infringementContrast with (1)AI incident · ContrastAI incidentAI hazard
The term's neighbourhood Terms related to this one on solid edges, terms it is often confused with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer. Follow a dashed edge to check the distinction before you use either term.
Neighbourhood as a table
Neighbourhood of AI hazard
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsAI systemRelated
Related termsIssue (versus incident)Related
Related termsNear missRelated
Related termsSerious incidentRelated
Related termsWidespread infringementRelated
Contrast withAI incidentContrast
  • Issue (versus incident)

    A defect, deviation or control weakness that has not produced a harmful event, such as an eval regression in staging or a drift alert.

  • Near miss

    A hazard that a control, or luck, interrupted before harm occurred: the guardrail blocked the exfiltration, the reviewer caught the invented dosage.

  • Serious incident

    Under AI Act Article 3(49), an incident or malfunction of an AI system that directly or indirectly leads to (a) a death or serious harm to health, (b) serious…

  • Widespread infringement

    Under AI Act Article 3(61), an act or omission contrary to Union law protecting individuals' interests that harms, or is likely to harm, the collective…

  • AI system

    For governance, the object the AI definition brings into scope.

Sources

  1. [1] "Name it to tame it: defining AI incidents and hazards" (summary of the OECD paper "Defining AI incidents and related terms", doi 10.1787/d1a8d965-en). OECD.AI. 2024-05-17. https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/defining-ai-incidents-and-hazards (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). AI hazard. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/ai-hazard. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026aihazard,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{AI hazard}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/ai-hazard}
}