Human in the loop
Also called: HITL
By HubAI editorial team · Source checked: 24 October 2026What does it mean?
A workflow in which a person reviews or participates at defined points. It is meaningful only when that person has enough information, time and authority to catch or stop problems.
Picture this
An assistant drafts a customer email. A reviewer sees the message, recipient and supporting facts before choosing whether to send it.
Where you’ll come across it
Publishing, financial actions, sensitive communications and other consequential tasks. Put review before the irreversible step, not merely after an activity log is written.
What it doesn’t mean
A button labelled approve can become a rubber stamp. Show the evidence and the proposed action clearly, and measure how often reviewers need to correct it.
Make approval worth something
A short exercise · use fictional or non-sensitive material.
- Create a fictional message with one deliberately incorrect recipient or figure.
- Show a reviewer the draft, recipient and source notes before the send step. No real sending is needed.
- Check whether they can spot, edit and reject it. If approval hides the evidence, redesign that screen.
Does the reviewer have enough information and authority to prevent the mistake?
Did that make it clearer?
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Written and explained by HubAI. The reference below lets you go deeper; it is not an endorsement of a particular product.
Technical reference: www.nist.gov ↗