AI Governance Engineer
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Fairness

By Updated

The property that a system's outcomes and errors do not unjustifiably disadvantage people or groups. NIST lists "fair, with harmful bias managed" among its trustworthy characteristics 1; in practice fairness is a chosen, recorded metric (group, individual or counterfactual) with a threshold, not a general claim.

Developed in
ch. 16, Choosing a fairness metric by use case
Chapters
ch. 16, Fairness & XAI
Contrast with
Bias
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

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

Fairness: mentions per chapter107 mentions of the term across 16 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter00 Preface: 1 mention00 Preface101 Definition: 2 mentions01 Definition205 Patterns: 5 mentions05 Patterns508 Regulatory Map: 3 mentions08 Regulatory Map310 Reading List: 11 mentions10 Reading List1111 AI Defined: 13 mentions11 AI Defined1312 Governance Program: 1 mention12 Governance Program113 Risk Management: 3 mentions13 Risk Management314 Development: 5 mentions14 Development515 Deployment: 7 mentions15 Deployment716 Fairness & XAI: 38 mentions16 Fairness & XAI3818 EU AI Act: 1 mention18 EU AI Act119 Privacy & AI: 2 mentions19 Privacy & AI220 Existing Law: 3 mentions20 Existing Law321 AI Laws Worldwide: 2 mentions21 AI Laws Worldwide222 Principles & Standards: 10 mentions22 Principles & Standards10No mentions in the other 7 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Fairness: mentions per chapter107 mentions of the term across 16 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter00 Preface: 1 mention10001 Definition: 2 mentions20102030405 Patterns: 5 mentions505060708 Regulatory Map: 3 mentions30810 Reading List: 11 mentions111011 AI Defined: 13 mentions131112 Governance Program: 1 mention11213 Risk Management: 3 mentions31314 Development: 5 mentions51415 Deployment: 7 mentions71516 Fairness & XAI: 38 mentions38161718 EU AI Act: 1 mention11819 Privacy & AI: 2 mentions21920 Existing Law: 3 mentions32021 AI Laws Worldwide: 2 mentions22122 Principles & Standards: 10 mentions102223Source: 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 Fairness per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface1No
01 Definition2No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns5No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map3No
10 Reading List11No
11 AI Defined13No
12 Governance Program1No
13 Risk Management3No
14 Development5No
15 Deployment7No
16 Fairness & XAI38Yes
17 Incidents0No
18 EU AI Act1No
19 Privacy & AI2No
20 Existing Law3No
21 AI Laws Worldwide2No
22 Principles & Standards10No
23 AI Agents0No

Patterns that use this term

10 pattern pages use the term, most mentions first.

Fairness: 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 pattern03 Evals04 Runtime Controls05 AssuranceFairnessRelated terms (7)Calibration within groups · RelatedCalibration within groupsClaims register · RelatedClaims registerCounterfactual flip test · RelatedCounterfactual flip testDemographic parity · RelatedDemographic parityFairness gerrymandering · RelatedFairness gerrymanderingOECD AI Principles · RelatedOECD AI PrinciplesTrustworthy characteristics (NIST) · RelatedTrustworthy characteristicsContrast with (1)Bias · ContrastBiasPatterns using it most (6)Claims Substantiation Gate, 3 mentions · Uses the termClaims Substantiation GateDeactivation, Localisation & Retirement Runbook, 3 mentions · Uses the termDeactivationDrift & Fairness Monitor, 10 mentions · Uses the termDrift & Fairness MonitorExplanation Artefact, 2 mentions · Uses the termExplanation ArtefactFairness Eval Suite, 11 mentions · Uses the termFairness Eval SuiteStaged Rollout with Rollback Criteria, 3 mentions · Uses the termStaged Rollout
Fairness: 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 pattern03 Evals04 Runtime Controls05 AssuranceRelated terms (7)Calibration within groups · RelatedCalibration within groupsClaims register · RelatedClaims registerCounterfactual flip test · RelatedCounterfactual flip testDemographic parity · RelatedDemographic parityFairness gerrymandering · RelatedFairness gerrymanderingOECD AI Principles · RelatedOECD AI PrinciplesTrustworthy characteristics (NIST) · RelatedTrustworthy characteristicsContrast with (1)Bias · ContrastBiasPatterns using it most (6)Claims Substantiation Gate, 3 mentions · Uses the termClaims Substantiation GateDeactivation, Localisation & Retirement Runbook, 3 mentions · Uses the termDeactivationDrift & Fairness Monitor, 10 mentions · Uses the termDrift & Fairness MonitorExplanation Artefact, 2 mentions · Uses the termExplanation ArtefactFairness Eval Suite, 11 mentions · Uses the termFairness Eval SuiteStaged Rollout with Rollback Criteria, 3 mentions · Uses the termStaged RolloutFairness
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 Fairness
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsCalibration within groupsRelated
Related termsClaims registerRelated
Related termsCounterfactual flip testRelated
Related termsDemographic parityRelated
Related termsFairness gerrymanderingRelated
Related termsOECD AI PrinciplesRelated
Related termsTrustworthy characteristics (NIST)Related
Contrast withBiasContrast
Patterns using it mostClaims Substantiation Gate, 3 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using it mostDeactivation, Localisation & Retirement Runbook, 3 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using it mostDrift & Fairness Monitor, 10 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using it mostExplanation Artefact, 2 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using it mostFairness Eval Suite, 11 mentionsUses the term
Patterns using it mostStaged Rollout with Rollback Criteria, 3 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…

  • Calibration within groups

    The fairness property that, in every group, the people given a score s turn out positive at rate s, so a score means the same thing for everyone.

  • Counterfactual flip test

    A test that changes only a protected attribute in an input, or swaps identity terms in otherwise identical prompts, and measures how often the outcome or the…

  • Fairness gerrymandering

    The failure in which a model satisfies a fairness constraint on each predefined group but violates it on subgroups defined by combinations of attributes; the…

  • Demographic parity

    A group fairness criterion that holds when the rate of positive decisions is equal across groups; the adverse-impact ratio is its ratio form.

  • OECD AI Principles

    The five values-based principles (inclusive growth and well-being; human rights, fairness and privacy; transparency and explainability; robustness, security…

  • Claims register

    The record of every public statement about an AI system's accuracy, fairness, safety or capability: the exact wording, where it appears, and the eval run…

Sources

  1. [1] Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0), NIST AI 100-1 (risk tolerance and residual risk; seven trustworthy characteristics; transparency answers "what happened", explainability "how", interpretability "why"; MAP 1.1 intended purposes; MANAGE 1.1 go/no-go determination; profiles). NIST. 2023-01-26. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AI.100-1 (verified: primary)

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

Cite this term

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

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026fairness,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Fairness}},
  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/fairness}
}