Choose the right human oversight pattern for an AI workflow based on consequence and reversibility.
Human-in-the-loop vs human-on-the-loop Compare The difference is timing: approval before action versus supervision during operation. When should a workflow require human-in-the-loop approval? When the action is high consequence, hard to reverse, legally sensitive, financially material, or affects a person's rights or opportunities. Examples: payment release, hiring decision, benefits denial, customer termination, bank-detail change. Objection: 'Human review ruins automation.' Operations wants to remove all approval steps from an AI invoice workflow. Your line Let's reserve approval for high-impact or hard-to-reverse actions and use sampling for low-risk classifications. Treating oversight as all-or-nothing. Risk-tiered oversight keeps speed where it is safe and review…
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