AI Governance Engineer
GitHub

Serious incident

By Updated

Under AI Act Article 3(49), an incident or malfunction of an AI system that directly or indirectly leads to (a) a death or serious harm to health, (b) serious and irreversible disruption of critical infrastructure, (c) infringement of Union-law obligations protecting fundamental rights, or (d) serious harm to property or the environment, triggering Article 73 reporting 1.

Developed in
ch. 17, Incident, hazard, issue and serious incident
ch. 18, Post-market monitoring and serious incidents (Articles 72 and 73)
Chapters
ch. 04, The Stack · ch. 08, Regulatory Map · ch. 17, Incidents · ch. 18, EU AI Act
Contrast with
AI incident
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

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

Serious incident: mentions per chapter40 mentions of the term across 9 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter04 The Stack: 2 mentions04 The Stack206 The Role: 1 mention06 The Role108 Regulatory Map: 7 mentions08 Regulatory Map712 Governance Program: 2 mentions12 Governance Program213 Risk Management: 1 mention13 Risk Management115 Deployment: 1 mention15 Deployment117 Incidents: 20 mentions17 Incidents2018 EU AI Act: 4 mentions18 EU AI Act421 AI Laws Worldwide: 2 mentions21 AI Laws Worldwide2No mentions in the other 14 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Serious incident: mentions per chapter40 mentions of the term across 9 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter0001020304 The Stack: 2 mentions2040506 The Role: 1 mention1060708 Regulatory Map: 7 mentions708101112 Governance Program: 2 mentions21213 Risk Management: 1 mention1131415 Deployment: 1 mention1151617 Incidents: 20 mentions201718 EU AI Act: 4 mentions418192021 AI Laws Worldwide: 2 mentions2212223Source: 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 Serious incident per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack2Yes
05 Patterns0No
06 The Role1No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map7Yes
10 Reading List0No
11 AI Defined0No
12 Governance Program2No
13 Risk Management1No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment1No
16 Fairness & XAI0No
17 Incidents20Yes
18 EU AI Act4Yes
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide2No
22 Principles & Standards0No
23 AI Agents0No

Patterns that use this term

One pattern page uses the term.

Serious 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 AssuranceSerious incidentRelated terms (7)AI Act (EU) · RelatedAI Act (EU)AI hazard · RelatedAI hazardAI system · RelatedAI systemIssue (versus incident) · RelatedIssue (versus incident)Near miss · RelatedNear missPost-market monitoring · RelatedPost-market monitoringWidespread infringement · RelatedWidespread infringementContrast with (1)AI incident · ContrastAI incidentPatterns using it (1)Incident Pipeline, 2 mentions · Uses the termIncident Pipeline
Serious 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 (7)AI Act (EU) · RelatedAI Act (EU)AI hazard · RelatedAI hazardAI system · RelatedAI systemIssue (versus incident) · RelatedIssue (versus incident)Near miss · RelatedNear missPost-market monitoring · RelatedPost-market monitoringWidespread infringement · RelatedWidespread infringementContrast with (1)AI incident · ContrastAI incidentPatterns using it (1)Incident Pipeline, 2 mentions · Uses the termIncident PipelineSerious 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 Serious incident
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsAI Act (EU)Related
Related termsAI hazardRelated
Related termsAI systemRelated
Related termsIssue (versus incident)Related
Related termsNear missRelated
Related termsPost-market monitoringRelated
Related termsWidespread infringementRelated
Contrast withAI incidentContrast
Patterns using itIncident Pipeline, 2 mentionsUses the term
  • AI hazard

    In the OECD's definition, an event or series of events where the development, use or malfunction of an AI system could plausibly lead to an AI incident.

  • 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.

  • Near miss

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

  • Post-market monitoring

    The AI Act Article 72 duty to actively monitor a high-risk system's performance and risks after deployment, throughout its lifetime.

  • 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 Act (EU)

    Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the EU's horizontal, risk-tiered law for AI, amended by the Digital Omnibus.

  • AI system

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

Sources

  1. [1] Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), consolidated text as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI, in force 27 Jul 2026; definitions in Art. 3, incl. 3(1), 3(3) to 3(14), 3(14b), 3(20), 3(22), 3(23), 3(29) to 3(32), 3(49), 3(55) to 3(57), 3(60), 3(61), 3(63), 3(68); Arts. 4, 5, 6 (incl. 6(3) third subparagraph, profiling), 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 22 to 27 (incl. 26(11)), 40, 41, 43, 47, 48, 50, 53 (incl. 53(1)(c)), 55, 57, 60, 72, 73, 86; Annexes I, III, IV). Publications Office of the EU (EUR-Lex). 2026-07-27. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/2026-07-27/eng (verified: primary)

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

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Serious 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/serious-incident. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026seriousincident,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Serious 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/serious-incident}
}