Human in the loop is a way of designing AI systems so that a person reviews and approves the important steps before anything takes effect. The AI does the collecting, reading and drafting; a named person makes the decisions, such as approving a payment, accepting a client or sending a letter.
Where does the person sit in the process?
At every point where a mistake would be costly or hard to undo. Common checkpoints include:
- Anything sent to a client, patient or regulator
- Decisions about money, credit or eligibility
- Conflict determinations at a law firm
- Any change written back to a system of record
Some regulators already point to it. FINRA's 2026 oversight report, for example, lists where to have human-in-the-loop oversight among the considerations for firms using AI agents.1 Each approval should also be logged, so the firm can show who decided what.
Frequently asked questions
Does human in the loop slow everything down?
Less than you might expect. The AI does the slow parts, like gathering documents, retyping data and drafting, so the person's review is shorter and focused on the decision. The aim is to spend people's time on judgment rather than on preparation.
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