ISO 22989 Revision Checker
ISO/IEC 22989:2022/FDAmd 1 Amendment 1: Generative AI Stage 50.00 Planning date 16 Feb 2027, an estimate 117 defined terms · 23 clause pages

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Terms related to AI · 3.1.33

symbolic AI

AI built on techniques and models that handle symbols and structures under rules written out explicitly, in order to draw inferences

  • definition
  • Defined term
  • ISO/IEC 22989:2022/FDAmd 1
  • Last updated: 2026-10-21

What this term settles

The term looks ordinary until two teams use it differently. The entry removes that room by naming the thing, its inputs and its limits in one sentence.

Who it binds

The clause does not instruct anyone. It settles what symbolic AI means so that an instruction written elsewhere can be read the same way by both sides.

What to do in your practice

Take the firm own definition of symbolic AI, put it beside this one and mark the differences. Each difference is either a deliberate local choice or an inconsistency to fix.

Evidence an auditor or regulator asks for

  • A controlled vocabulary entry for symbolic AI with the citation 3.1.33, 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 symbolic 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 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.
Ask your teamWhat would change in the inventory if the firm adopted this entry tomorrow?

Common gaps this page catches

  • symbolic AI is used in the AI vocabulary a policy reaches for first without a written definition, so two teams can mean different things.
  • The term appears in a template with no citation, so the reader cannot tell which sense was intended.

What to prepare before the amendment lands

Take the next policy revision and replace the loose use of symbolic AI with the entry and its citation. Record the change in the vocabulary change log.

How to test it here

Take one live artefact rather than a template, find the sentence or field where symbolic 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 symbolic AI at the claim level "definition" and stops where the public record stops.

Common questions

What does symbolic AI mean in ISO 22989?
AI built on techniques and models that handle symbols and structures under rules written out explicitly, in order to draw inferences
What evidence should we keep for 3.1.33?
A controlled vocabulary entry for symbolic AI with the citation 3.1.33, an owner and a review date. An AI system inventory field that records the entry for each system, with its owner.
Is symbolic AI a requirement?
No: symbolic 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 3.1.33, 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.

Built from the public ISO record and the public clause 3 entries. No clause text is reproduced. How the record is built.

Last updated: 2026-10-21 · Markdown version · Check your vocabulary