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Autonomy

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In the EU AI Act and OECD texts, some degree of independence of action from human involvement, which almost every AI system has. ISO/IEC 22989 uses the word for a much stronger property, a system that can change its own goal or domain of use, and calls the ordinary case automation 1.

Developed in
ch. 11, ISO/IEC 22989
Chapters
ch. 11, AI Defined · ch. 23, AI Agents
Contrast with
Autonomy level
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

17 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Autonomy: mentions per chapter77 mentions of the term across 17 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter01 Definition: 1 mention01 Definition102 Why Now: 1 mention02 Why Now103 Values & Principles: 2 mentions03 Values & Principles205 Patterns: 1 mention05 Patterns106 The Role: 1 mention06 The Role107 Maturity Model: 1 mention07 Maturity Model108 Regulatory Map: 7 mentions08 Regulatory Map710 Reading List: 3 mentions10 Reading List311 AI Defined: 20 mentions11 AI Defined2012 Governance Program: 1 mention12 Governance Program113 Risk Management: 5 mentions13 Risk Management515 Deployment: 3 mentions15 Deployment317 Incidents: 2 mentions17 Incidents218 EU AI Act: 2 mentions18 EU AI Act220 Existing Law: 1 mention20 Existing Law122 Principles & Standards: 4 mentions22 Principles & Standards423 AI Agents: 22 mentions23 AI Agents22No mentions in the other 6 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Autonomy: mentions per chapter77 mentions of the term across 17 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter0001 Definition: 1 mention10102 Why Now: 1 mention10203 Values & Principles: 2 mentions2030405 Patterns: 1 mention10506 The Role: 1 mention10607 Maturity Model: 1 mention10708 Regulatory Map: 7 mentions70810 Reading List: 3 mentions31011 AI Defined: 20 mentions201112 Governance Program: 1 mention11213 Risk Management: 5 mentions5131415 Deployment: 3 mentions3151617 Incidents: 2 mentions21718 EU AI Act: 2 mentions2181920 Existing Law: 1 mention1202122 Principles & Standards: 4 mentions42223 AI Agents: 22 mentions2223Source: 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 Autonomy per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition1No
02 Why Now1No
03 Values & Principles2No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns1No
06 The Role1No
07 Maturity Model1No
08 Regulatory Map7No
10 Reading List3No
11 AI Defined20Yes
12 Governance Program1No
13 Risk Management5No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment3No
16 Fairness & XAI0No
17 Incidents2No
18 EU AI Act2No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law1No
21 AI Laws Worldwide0No
22 Principles & Standards4No
23 AI Agents22Yes

Patterns that use this term

5 pattern pages use the term, most mentions first.

Autonomy: 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.RelatedContrastColour: stack layer of the pattern01 Govern-as-Code04 Runtime Controls05 AssuranceAutonomyRelated terms (7)AI Act (EU) · RelatedAI Act (EU)AI system · RelatedAI systemContributing factor · RelatedContributing factorISO/IEC 22989 · RelatedISO/IEC 22989Kill switch · RelatedKill switchLeast agency · RelatedLeast agencyLoss of control · RelatedLoss of controlContrast with (1)Autonomy level · ContrastAutonomy levelPatterns using it (5)Claims Substantiation Gate, 1 mention · Uses the termClaims Substantiation GateHuman-in-the-loop Gate, 4 mentions · Uses the termHuman-in-the-loop GateKill Switch / Circuit Breaker, 1 mention · Uses the termKill Switch / Circuit BreakerRuntime Guardrail, 1 mention · Uses the termRuntime GuardrailUse-Case Intake & Risk Tiering, 1 mention · Uses the termUse-Case Intake & Risk Tiering
Autonomy: 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.RelatedContrastColour: stack layer of the pattern01 Govern-as-Code04 Runtime Controls05 AssuranceRelated terms (7)AI Act (EU) · RelatedAI Act (EU)AI system · RelatedAI systemContributing factor · RelatedContributing factorISO/IEC 22989 · RelatedISO/IEC 22989Kill switch · RelatedKill switchLeast agency · RelatedLeast agencyLoss of control · RelatedLoss of controlContrast with (1)Autonomy level · ContrastAutonomy levelPatterns using it (5)Claims Substantiation Gate, 1 mention · Uses the termClaims Substantiation GateHuman-in-the-loop Gate, 4 mentions · Uses the termHuman-in-the-loop GateKill Switch / Circuit Breaker, 1 mention · Uses the termKill Switch / Circuit BreakerRuntime Guardrail, 1 mention · Uses the termRuntime GuardrailUse-Case Intake & Risk Tiering, 1 mention · Uses the termUse-Case Intake & Risk TieringAutonomy
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 Autonomy
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsAI Act (EU)Related
Related termsAI systemRelated
Related termsContributing factorRelated
Related termsISO/IEC 22989Related
Related termsKill switchRelated
Related termsLeast agencyRelated
Related termsLoss of controlRelated
Contrast withAutonomy levelContrast
Patterns using itClaims Substantiation Gate, 1 mentionUses the term
Patterns using itHuman-in-the-loop Gate, 4 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using itKill Switch / Circuit Breaker, 1 mentionUses the term
Patterns using itRuntime Guardrail, 1 mentionUses the term
Patterns using itUse-Case Intake & Risk Tiering, 1 mentionUses the term
  • Contributing factor

    A property of a system or its context (autonomy, exposure, reversibility, vulnerable groups, data sensitivity, opacity) that moves the likelihood or severity…

  • Loss of control

    One of the systemic risks the GPAI Code of Practice specifies: risks from humans losing the ability to reliably direct, modify or shut down a model, which may…

  • ISO/IEC 22989

    The ISO/IEC standard (2022) that establishes AI concepts and terminology for use by other standards and by diverse stakeholders.

  • Least agency

    The principle, in the OWASP agentic list, of giving an agent no more autonomy than its task needs: agentic behaviour deployed where it is not needed widens…

  • AI Act (EU)

    Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the EU's horizontal, risk-tiered law for AI, amended by the Digital Omnibus.

  • Kill switch

    A tested mechanism to stop an agent or system from acting; a precondition of granting autonomy, registered against the agent's identity.

  • AI system

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

Sources

  1. [1] ISO/IEC 22989:2022, Artificial intelligence concepts and terminology (referenced by identifier only; autonomy and heteronomy; clause 5.11 machine learning approaches: supervised, unsupervised, semi-supervised, reinforcement). ISO/IEC. 2022-07. https://www.iso.org/standard/74296.html (verified: secondary)

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

Cite this term

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

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026autonomy,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Autonomy}},
  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/autonomy}
}