AI Governance Engineer
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AI incident

By Updated

In the OECD's definition, an event or series of events where the development, use or malfunction of one or more AI systems directly or indirectly leads to harm to health, critical infrastructure, human or fundamental rights, property, communities or the environment 1.

Developed in
ch. 17, Incident, hazard, issue and serious incident
Chapters
ch. 17, Incidents
Contrast with
Issue (versus incident) · AI hazard · Serious incident
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Commonly confused

  • AI incident versus Issue (versus incident)

    AI incident
    In the OECD's definition, an event or series of events where the development, use or malfunction of one or more AI systems directly or indirectly leads to harm to health, critical infrastructure…
    Issue (versus incident)
    A defect, deviation or control weakness that has not produced a harmful event, such as an eval regression in staging or a drift alert.

    The differenceHarm has happened, against a defect or deviation that has not produced a harmful event.

    Why it mattersIncidents start reporting clocks and CAPA; issues go to a tracked backlog with an owner and a due date.

Where it is used

6 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

AI incident: mentions per chapter27 mentions of the term across 6 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter08 Regulatory Map: 1 mention08 Regulatory Map110 Reading List: 7 mentions10 Reading List712 Governance Program: 3 mentions12 Governance Program317 Incidents: 14 mentions17 Incidents1421 AI Laws Worldwide: 1 mention21 AI Laws Worldwide122 Principles & Standards: 1 mention22 Principles & Standards1No mentions in the other 17 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
AI incident: mentions per chapter27 mentions of the term across 6 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter000102030405060708 Regulatory Map: 1 mention10810 Reading List: 7 mentions7101112 Governance Program: 3 mentions3121314151617 Incidents: 14 mentions141718192021 AI Laws Worldwide: 1 mention12122 Principles & Standards: 1 mention12223Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of AI incident per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns0No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map1No
10 Reading List7No
11 AI Defined0No
12 Governance Program3No
13 Risk Management0No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment0No
16 Fairness & XAI0No
17 Incidents14Yes
18 EU AI Act0No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide1No
22 Principles & Standards1No
23 AI Agents0No

Patterns that use this term

One pattern page uses the term.

AI incident: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastColour: stack layer of the pattern05 AssuranceAI incidentRelated terms (3)AI system · RelatedAI systemNear miss · RelatedNear missWidespread infringement · RelatedWidespread infringementContrast with (3)AI hazard · ContrastAI hazardIssue (versus incident) · ContrastIssue (versus incident)Serious incident · ContrastSerious incidentPatterns using it (1)Incident Pipeline, 3 mentions · Uses the termIncident Pipeline
AI incident: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastColour: stack layer of the pattern05 AssuranceRelated terms (3)AI system · RelatedAI systemNear miss · RelatedNear missWidespread infringement · RelatedWidespread infringementPatterns using it (1)Incident Pipeline, 3 mentions · Uses the termIncident PipelineContrast with (3)AI hazard · ContrastAI hazardIssue (versus incident) · ContrastIssue (versus incident)Serious incident · ContrastSerious incidentAI incident
The term's neighbourhood Terms related to this one on solid edges, terms it is often confused with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer. Follow a dashed edge to check the distinction before you use either term.
Neighbourhood as a table
Neighbourhood of AI incident
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsAI systemRelated
Related termsNear missRelated
Related termsWidespread infringementRelated
Contrast withAI hazardContrast
Contrast withIssue (versus incident)Contrast
Contrast withSerious incidentContrast
Patterns using itIncident Pipeline, 3 mentionsUses the term
  • Near miss

    A hazard that a control, or luck, interrupted before harm occurred: the guardrail blocked the exfiltration, the reviewer caught the invented dosage.

  • Widespread infringement

    Under AI Act Article 3(61), an act or omission contrary to Union law protecting individuals' interests that harms, or is likely to harm, the collective…

  • AI system

    For governance, the object the AI definition brings into scope.

Sources

  1. [1] "Name it to tame it: defining AI incidents and hazards" (summary of the OECD paper "Defining AI incidents and related terms", doi 10.1787/d1a8d965-en). OECD.AI. 2024-05-17. https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/defining-ai-incidents-and-hazards (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). AI incident. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/ai-incident. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026aiincident,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{AI incident}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/ai-incident}
}