Human Oversight Standard
Standard ID: GCAIS-STD-006Table of Contents
1. Scope
This standard establishes mandatory requirements for human oversight of AI systems that make or substantially influence consequential decisions affecting natural persons. It applies to AI systems in production where the system's output directly determines or materially shapes decisions relating to individuals in areas including but not limited to employment, creditworthiness, healthcare, legal proceedings, or access to services.
The requirements do not mandate that every AI output be reviewed by a human prior to action. They establish the conditions under which human review is required, the mechanisms by which humans may review and override outputs, and the records to be maintained of human interventions.
Where an AI system's outputs are used solely in non-consequential contexts, or where the system's role is clearly advisory and decisions are made independently by qualified humans, the requirements of this standard may be applied at a reduced scope as documented in the organization's risk classification under GCAIS-STD-001.
2. Definitions
- Consequential Decision
- A decision that materially affects the rights, interests, access to services, or life circumstances of a natural person, including automated decisions and decisions substantially informed by AI system outputs.
- Human Review Trigger
- A defined condition or threshold that requires human review of an AI system output before the output is acted upon. Triggers may be defined by output type, confidence level, affected population, or risk classification.
- Override Mechanism
- A documented and technically implemented pathway by which an authorized human reviewer may reverse or modify an AI system's output or suspend its application to a specific case.
- Escalation Path
- A defined sequence of personnel or roles to whom a case is referred when the initial human reviewer is unable to reach a determination or requires additional authority to act.
3. Requirements
4. Assessment Criteria
Assessment includes review of the consequential decision register, examination of trigger implementation in system configuration and procedures, testing of override mechanisms, sampling of audit trail records, and review of escalation path documentation currency.
5. Compliance Indicators
| Requirement | Compliant Indicator | Non-Compliant Indicator |
|---|---|---|
| REQ-006-1 | Consequential decision register current, reviewed within required interval | No register, or systems producing consequential outputs not identified |
| REQ-006-2 | Triggers documented and implemented both technically and procedurally | No triggers, or triggers documented but not technically implemented |
| REQ-006-3 | Override mechanism functional; test records within required interval | No mechanism, or mechanism not tested within required interval |
| REQ-006-4 | Audit trail complete, accessible, and retained for required period | No audit trail, or interventions not recorded in required detail |
| REQ-006-5 | Escalation path current and updated within required interval on changes | No escalation path, or path not updated following personnel changes |
6. Version History
| Version | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| v1.1 | 2026-02-20 | REQ-006-2 amended to require technical as well as procedural implementation of triggers. Scope clarification for advisory systems added. |
| v1.0 | 2026-01-20 | Initial publication. Adopted by Standards Board resolution 2026-01-18. |