Terms related to AI · 3.1.16
heteronomy
a property of a system that works under constraint from an outside party that intervenes, controls or supervises
What this term settles
A governance lead borrows this meaning whenever heteronomy appears in a risk assessment or an assurance argument. The borrowing is safe only if the artefact behind it matches the description.
Who it binds
Nothing here creates an obligation by itself. The obligation arrives when the firm writes heteronomy into a control, a specification or a purchase order.
What to do in your practice
Add heteronomy to the vocabulary register and to the onboarding pack. A term that is only in a PDF is not controlled; it is controlled when a new joiner can find it and a reviewer can test it.
Evidence an auditor or regulator asks for
- A controlled vocabulary entry for heteronomy with the citation 3.1.16, an owner and a review date.An auditor can check that the term is controlled rather than assumed.
- An AI system inventory field that records the entry for each system, with its owner.Shows heteronomy 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 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.
Common gaps this page catches
- heteronomy is used in the AI vocabulary a policy reaches for first without a written definition, so two teams can mean different things.
- A local synonym has grown up beside the entry and the two are now used interchangeably.
What to prepare before the amendment lands
Put heteronomy 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 heteronomy 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 heteronomy at the claim level "definition" and stops where the public record stops.
Common questions
- What does heteronomy mean in ISO 22989?
- a property of a system that works under constraint from an outside party that intervenes, controls or supervises
- What evidence should we keep for 3.1.16?
- A controlled vocabulary entry for heteronomy with the citation 3.1.16, an owner and a review date. An AI system inventory field that records the entry for each system, with its owner.
- Is heteronomy a requirement?
- No: heteronomy 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 3.1.16, 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