Terms related to AI · 3.1.14
general AI
an AI system type that takes on a wide range of tasks and performs satisfactorily across them
What this term settles
The definition fixes what general AI means inside this vocabulary and, just as usefully, where the boundary sits. A reader who means something wider or narrower is using a different term and should say so.
Who it binds
The clause does not instruct anyone: it settles what general AI means so that an instruction written elsewhere can be read the same way by both sides.
What to do in your practice
Use the entry as a test in the next review. Ask the owner to point at the artefact that shows general AI in this sense, then record the answer with a date.
Evidence an auditor or regulator asks for
- A controlled vocabulary entry for general AI with the citation 3.1.14, an owner and a review date.An auditor can check that general AI is controlled rather than assumed.
- An AI system inventory field that records the entry for each system, with its owner. The row names general AI.Shows general AI in use in the artefact the firm relies on, not only in a glossary.
- A policy or procedure sentence that uses the entry in this sense. The record carries the general AI entry and its date.The policy borrows the word but not the boundary, so a supplier system and an in-house model are treated as the same kind of thing. The gap is tested against general AI.
Common gaps this page catches
- general AI is used in the AI vocabulary a policy reaches for first without a written definition, so two teams can mean different things.
- The entry for general AI exists in a glossary but not in the system record, so the two disagree at the point of use.
What to prepare before the amendment lands
Put general AI on the agenda of the next AI governance meeting with two questions: where is it used, and what would show it is used correctly? Record the answers as actions.
How to test it here
Take one live artefact rather than a template, find the sentence or field where general AI is used, and put this page beside it. Record the answer, the artefact and the date, because that record is the evidence and a glossary entry on its own is only an intention.
What this page does not claim
The page does not reproduce the standard, certify the firm or predict the wording the amendment will use; it states general AI at the claim level "definition" and stops where the public record stops.
Common questions
- What does general AI mean in ISO 22989?
- an AI system type that takes on a wide range of tasks and performs satisfactorily across them
- What evidence should we keep for 3.1.14?
- A controlled vocabulary entry for general AI with the citation 3.1.14, an owner and a review date. An AI system inventory field that records the entry for each system, with its owner. The row names general AI.
- Is general AI a requirement?
- No: general AI is a definition or clause of a terminology standard, and it becomes binding only when a firm writes it into a policy, a contract or a procedure, or when another standard incorporates it.
Related units
Source. ISO/IEC 22989:2022, Clause 3.1.14, Terms and definitions. Open the ISO public entry. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/en/#iso:std:iso-iec:22989:ed-1:v1:en
ISO catalogue record 88145, the amendment status, stage and dates. Catalogue record 74296, the base standard.
Claim level: definition. The definition is in the public preview. This page states it in our own words and does not reproduce the text.
Last updated: 2026-10-21 · Markdown version · Check your vocabulary