✦ Part of the series Things I've Learned Experimenting With AI
“Human in the loop” has become one of those phrases we say to make everyone feel better.
Like “cross-functional alignment.” Or “quick sync.” Or “this should be straightforward.”
The issue is not whether a human is somewhere in the loop.
The issue is whether the human is in the right place.
- Before the AI acts?
- After it drafts?
- When risk is detected?
- When money is involved?
- When customer trust is at stake?
- When a decision needs authority?
That matters.
A human reviewer at the wrong point is not governance.
It is theater with a comments field.
AI should gather, summarize, compare, draft, and recommend.
But the workflow should know when authority returns to a person.
The question is not whether humans are in the loop.
The question is whether judgment is in the right place.
(This is the heart of my governance work — at enterprise scale and at kitchen-table scale.)
human-in-the-loopAI governanceAI riskAI workflowsresponsible AIAI decision-makingcybersecurity governance
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