Governance

Human-in-the-Loop

1 min read

Definition

A system design where human oversight is required at critical decision points in an agent workflow.

Human-in-the-loop (HITL) patterns ensure that consequential decisions receive human review before execution. This provides a safety net for high-stakes actions.

When to Use

  • High-consequence decisions (financial, safety, legal)
  • Novel situations outside training distribution
  • Actions that are difficult to reverse

Trade-offs

  • Reduces automation throughput
  • Requires human availability
  • Can become bottleneck at scale
governancesafetyoversight