AI Governance Engineer
GitHub

Bias

By Updated

A systematic error that favours or disadvantages some people or outcomes. NIST sorts AI bias into three categories: systemic, statistical and computational, and human 1. Bias can enter at any lifecycle stage, so it is tested per stage rather than once.

Developed in
ch. 16, Where bias enters the lifecycle
Chapters
ch. 16, Fairness & XAI
Contrast with
Fairness
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

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

Bias: mentions per chapter113 mentions of the term across 18 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter02 Why Now: 1 mention02 Why Now104 The Stack: 6 mentions04 The Stack605 Patterns: 1 mention05 Patterns108 Regulatory Map: 10 mentions08 Regulatory Map1010 Reading List: 6 mentions10 Reading List611 AI Defined: 4 mentions11 AI Defined412 Governance Program: 4 mentions12 Governance Program413 Risk Management: 2 mentions13 Risk Management214 Development: 11 mentions14 Development1115 Deployment: 2 mentions15 Deployment216 Fairness & XAI: 27 mentions16 Fairness & XAI2717 Incidents: 2 mentions17 Incidents218 EU AI Act: 8 mentions18 EU AI Act819 Privacy & AI: 6 mentions19 Privacy & AI620 Existing Law: 7 mentions20 Existing Law721 AI Laws Worldwide: 4 mentions21 AI Laws Worldwide422 Principles & Standards: 10 mentions22 Principles & Standards1023 AI Agents: 2 mentions23 AI Agents2No mentions in the other 5 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Bias: mentions per chapter113 mentions of the term across 18 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter000102 Why Now: 1 mention1020304 The Stack: 6 mentions60405 Patterns: 1 mention105060708 Regulatory Map: 10 mentions100810 Reading List: 6 mentions61011 AI Defined: 4 mentions41112 Governance Program: 4 mentions41213 Risk Management: 2 mentions21314 Development: 11 mentions111415 Deployment: 2 mentions21516 Fairness & XAI: 27 mentions271617 Incidents: 2 mentions21718 EU AI Act: 8 mentions81819 Privacy & AI: 6 mentions61920 Existing Law: 7 mentions72021 AI Laws Worldwide: 4 mentions42122 Principles & Standards: 10 mentions102223 AI Agents: 2 mentions223Source: 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 Bias per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now1No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack6No
05 Patterns1No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map10No
10 Reading List6No
11 AI Defined4No
12 Governance Program4No
13 Risk Management2No
14 Development11No
15 Deployment2No
16 Fairness & XAI27Yes
17 Incidents2No
18 EU AI Act8No
19 Privacy & AI6No
20 Existing Law7No
21 AI Laws Worldwide4No
22 Principles & Standards10No
23 AI Agents2No

Patterns that use this term

4 pattern pages use the term, most mentions first.

Bias: 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-Code03 Evals04 Runtime ControlsBiasRelated terms (3)Human oversight · RelatedHuman oversightSupervised learning · RelatedSupervised learningTrustworthy characteristics (NIST) · RelatedTrustworthy characteristicsContrast with (1)Fairness · ContrastFairnessPatterns using it (4)Dataset Admission Gate, 8 mentions · Uses the termDataset Admission GateDrift & Fairness Monitor, 3 mentions · Uses the termDrift & Fairness MonitorFRIA-as-Code, 1 mention · Uses the termFRIA-as-CodeFairness Eval Suite, 5 mentions · Uses the termFairness Eval Suite
Bias: 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-Code03 Evals04 Runtime ControlsRelated terms (3)Human oversight · RelatedHuman oversightSupervised learning · RelatedSupervised learningTrustworthy characteristics (NIST) · RelatedTrustworthy characteristicsContrast with (1)Fairness · ContrastFairnessPatterns using it (4)Dataset Admission Gate, 8 mentions · Uses the termDataset Admission GateDrift & Fairness Monitor, 3 mentions · Uses the termDrift & Fairness MonitorFRIA-as-Code, 1 mention · Uses the termFRIA-as-CodeFairness Eval Suite, 5 mentions · Uses the termFairness Eval SuiteBias
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 Bias
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsHuman oversightRelated
Related termsSupervised learningRelated
Related termsTrustworthy characteristics (NIST)Related
Contrast withFairnessContrast
Patterns using itDataset Admission Gate, 8 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using itDrift & Fairness Monitor, 3 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using itFRIA-as-Code, 1 mentionUses the term
Patterns using itFairness Eval Suite, 5 mentionsUses the term
  • Trustworthy characteristics (NIST)

    The seven characteristics of trustworthy AI in the NIST AI RMF: valid and reliable; safe; secure and resilient; accountable and transparent; explainable and…

  • Supervised learning

    Learning from labelled examples.

  • Human oversight

    The measures that let natural persons understand, monitor and, when needed, override or stop a high-risk AI system, required by AI Act Article 14, including…

Sources

  1. [1] NIST SP 1270, Towards a Standard for Identifying and Managing Bias in Artificial Intelligence (three categories of AI bias: systemic, statistical and computational, and human). NIST. 2022-03-15. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.1270 (verified: primary)

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

Cite this term

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

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026bias,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Bias}},
  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/bias}
}