---
title: "Human-in-command (HIC)"
description: "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."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/human-in-command-hic
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-24
---

# Human-in-command (HIC)

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](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/ai-defined#from-definition-element-to-registry-field)
- Chapters: [ch. 11, AI Defined](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/ai-defined)
- Contrast with: [Human-on-the-loop (HOTL)](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/human-on-the-loop-hotl)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-human-in-command-hic

## Sources

[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)