Bias

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.

Patterns that use this term

4 pattern pages use the term, most mentions first.

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}
}