Terms related to AI · 3.1.21
knowledge
abstracted information on objects, events, ideas or rules, with their links and properties, arranged for systematic use towards a goal
What this term settles
A governance lead borrows this meaning whenever knowledge 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
A definition binds nobody on its own, so the force of knowledge comes only from the reader who adopts it in a policy, a contract, a data schema or an assurance argument.
What to do in your practice
Add knowledge 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 knowledge with the citation 3.1.21, an owner and a review date.An auditor can check that knowledge is controlled rather than assumed.
- An AI system inventory field that records the entry for each system, with its owner. The row names knowledge.Shows knowledge 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 knowledge 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 knowledge.
Common gaps this page catches
- knowledge is used in the AI vocabulary a policy reaches for first without a written definition, so two teams can mean different things.
- knowledge appears in a template with no citation, so the reader cannot tell which sense was intended.
What to prepare before the amendment lands
Add the entry to the register, give it an owner and a review date, and test it against one live artefact this week. The test is the evidence; the register row alone is not.
How to test it here
Take one live artefact rather than a template, find the sentence or field where knowledge 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 knowledge at the claim level "definition" and stops where the public record stops.
Common questions
- What does knowledge mean in ISO 22989?
- abstracted information on objects, events, ideas or rules, with their links and properties, arranged for systematic use towards a goal
- What evidence should we keep for 3.1.21?
- A controlled vocabulary entry for knowledge with the citation 3.1.21, an owner and a review date. An AI system inventory field that records the entry for each system, with its owner. The row names knowledge.
- Is knowledge a requirement?
- No: knowledge 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 3.1.21, 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