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Human-in-command (HIC)

By Updated

The oversight mode, named by the EU High-Level Expert Group, in which people oversee the overall activity of an AI system and decide when and whether to use it in a given situation 1.

Developed in
ch. 11, From definition element to registry field
Chapters
ch. 11, AI Defined
Contrast with
Human-on-the-loop (HOTL)
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

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

  • Adaptiveness

    The ability of an AI system to change its behaviour while in use, through learning after deployment; optional under the EU AI Act definition.

  • Human-in-the-loop (HITL)

    The oversight mode in which a person can intervene in every decision cycle of an AI system; in engineering terms, a gate that holds each consequential action…

  • Intended purpose

    The use for which the provider intends an AI system, including its specific context and conditions of use.

  • AI system

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

Sources

  1. [1] Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI (four ethical principles; seven requirements; human-in-the-loop, human-on-the-loop and human-in-command oversight). High-Level Expert Group on AI / European Commission. 2019-04-08. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/ethics-guidelines-trustworthy-ai (verified: primary)

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

Cite this term

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

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026humanincommandhic,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Human-in-command (HIC)}},
  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/human-in-command-hic}
}