Human-only
Keep AI outside the task when it must not perform or influence the work.
What this pattern means
Keep AI outside the task when it must not perform or influence the work. Choose it because it is the least complex approach that satisfies the task—not because it uses the most capable model.
When it fits
- The task directly determines rights, eligibility, employment, or another protected high-impact outcome.
- The work depends on responsibility or judgment that cannot be delegated to a model.
- Law, policy, or the accountable owner prohibits AI from shaping the task.
When it does not fit
- Low-consequence drafting where a person can readily verify every claim.
- Deterministic transformations that ordinary software can perform exactly.
- A potentially permissible workflow merely lacks a reviewer, evidence source, or approved environment; redesign that workflow instead of calling it human-only.
Required controls
- Document the human decision owner.
- Keep an auditable record of material evidence.
Autonomy limit
The maximum v1 autonomy is No AI influence. A task-specific rule may impose a stricter cap.
Minimum evaluation
Confirm that AI neither performs the task nor shapes the material decision.
Example
A qualified hiring panel evaluates applicants without AI ranking or screening.
Reassess human-only whenever the purpose, evidence, data class, decision owner, or external-action boundary changes.