ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42
In plain wordsThe international committee that writes the main worldwide technical standards on artificial intelligence, run jointly by the standards bodies ISO and IEC.
Subcommittee 42 (Artificial intelligence) of Joint Technical Committee 1 (Information technology) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the principal international body for AI standards. Its members are national standards bodies, and it develops horizontal standards — applicable across sectors — on concepts and terminology (ISO/IEC 22989ISO/IEC 22989, prop. n.: An international standard that fixes agreed meanings for basic AI words — such as AI system, machine learning and trustworthiness — so that other standards, contracts and laws can use the same vocabulary.), frameworks for machine-learning systems (ISO/IEC 23053), management systems (ISO/IEC 42001ISO/IEC 42001, prop. n.: An international standard for how an organization should run its AI work responsibly — policies, risk checks, roles and records — which outside auditors can certify, much as ISO 9001 does for quality.), risk management (ISO/IEC 23894ISO/IEC 23894, prop. n.: An international guidance standard that explains how organizations can apply ordinary risk-management practice to the particular risks of AI systems.), impact assessment (ISO/IEC 42005), bias, robustness, data quality and the AI system life cycle, working through groups on foundational standards, data, trustworthiness, use cases and computational approaches.
Our national delegation to SC 42 is pushing for a standard on evaluating generative models.
Origin
Established in 2017 by ISO/IEC JTC 1, with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as secretariat and Wael William Diab as founding chair. Its standards are increasingly referenced by regulators, and the European committee CEN-CENELEC JTC 21 adopts or adapts many of them.
Usage note
Its standards are voluntary; in the EU they give a presumption of conformity only if adopted as European harmonised standardsharmonised standards, n.: Official European technical standards, written at the EU's request, that companies can follow to show their AI systems meet the law, instead of proving it from scratch. and cited in the Official Journal.
Related
- ISO/IEC 42001ISO/IEC 42001, prop. n.: An international standard for how an organization should run its AI work responsibly — policies, risk checks, roles and records — which outside auditors can certify, much as ISO 9001 does for quality.
- ISO/IEC 22989ISO/IEC 22989, prop. n.: An international standard that fixes agreed meanings for basic AI words — such as AI system, machine learning and trustworthiness — so that other standards, contracts and laws can use the same vocabulary.
- ISO/IEC 23894ISO/IEC 23894, prop. n.: An international guidance standard that explains how organizations can apply ordinary risk-management practice to the particular risks of AI systems.
- harmonised standardsharmonised standards, n.: Official European technical standards, written at the EU's request, that companies can follow to show their AI systems meet the law, instead of proving it from scratch.
- NIST AI Risk Management FrameworkNIST AI Risk Management Framework, prop. n.: A free, voluntary guide from the US government's standards agency that helps organizations spot, measure and reduce the risks of the AI systems they build or use.
- AI governanceAI governance, n.: The rules, institutions and habits that shape how AI is built and used — from laws and treaties to technical standards and a company's own review processes.
Mentioned in
harmonised standardsharmonised standards, n.: Official European technical standards, written at the EU's request, that companies can follow to show their AI systems meet the law, instead of proving it from scratch., ISO/IEC 42001ISO/IEC 42001, prop. n.: An international standard for how an organization should run its AI work responsibly — policies, risk checks, roles and records — which outside auditors can certify, much as ISO 9001 does for quality., ISO/IEC 22989ISO/IEC 22989, prop. n.: An international standard that fixes agreed meanings for basic AI words — such as AI system, machine learning and trustworthiness — so that other standards, contracts and laws can use the same vocabulary., ISO/IEC 23894ISO/IEC 23894, prop. n.: An international guidance standard that explains how organizations can apply ordinary risk-management practice to the particular risks of AI systems.