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Trustworthy characteristics (NIST)

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The seven characteristics of trustworthy AI in the NIST AI RMF: valid and reliable; safe; secure and resilient; accountable and transparent; explainable and interpretable; privacy-enhanced; fair with harmful bias managed 1. Valid and reliable is the base; accountable and transparent spans the others.

Developed in
ch. 22, The seven trustworthy characteristics
Chapters
ch. 22, Principles & Standards
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

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

Trustworthy characteristics (NIST): mentions per chapter2 mentions of the term across 2 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 Map122 Principles & Standards: 1 mention22 Principles & Standards1No mentions in the other 21 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Trustworthy characteristics (NIST): mentions per chapter2 mentions of the term across 2 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 mention10810111213141516171819202122 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 Trustworthy characteristics (NIST) 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 List0No
11 AI Defined0No
12 Governance Program0No
13 Risk Management0No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment0No
16 Fairness & XAI0No
17 Incidents0No
18 EU AI Act0No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide0No
22 Principles & Standards1Yes
23 AI Agents0No
Trustworthy characteristics (NIST): 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.RelatedTrustworthy characteristics (NIST)Related terms (4)Bias · RelatedBiasFairness · RelatedFairnessNIST AI RMF · RelatedNIST AI RMFTrustworthy AI · RelatedTrustworthy AI
Trustworthy characteristics (NIST): 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.RelatedRelated terms (4)Bias · RelatedBiasFairness · RelatedFairnessNIST AI RMF · RelatedNIST AI RMFTrustworthy AI · RelatedTrustworthy AITrustworthycharacteristics(NIST)
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 Trustworthy characteristics (NIST)
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsBiasRelated
Related termsFairnessRelated
Related termsNIST AI RMFRelated
Related termsTrustworthy AIRelated
  • Trustworthy AI

    A banner used by other people's frameworks, notably the EU High-Level Expert Group and NIST, whose seven trustworthy characteristics make it concrete.

  • NIST AI RMF

    The NIST Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework 1.0 (NIST AI 100-1, January 2023): voluntary guidance organised as a Core of four functions…

  • Fairness

    The property that a system's outcomes and errors do not unjustifiably disadvantage people or groups.

  • Bias

    A systematic error that favours or disadvantages some people or outcomes.

Sources

  1. [1] Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0), NIST AI 100-1 (risk tolerance and residual risk; seven trustworthy characteristics; transparency answers "what happened", explainability "how", interpretability "why"; MAP 1.1 intended purposes; MANAGE 1.1 go/no-go determination; profiles). NIST. 2023-01-26. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AI.100-1 (verified: primary)

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

Cite this term

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

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026trustworthycharacteristicsnist,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Trustworthy characteristics (NIST)}},
  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/trustworthy-characteristics-nist}
}