Proportionality Principle
The ethical and legal principle that risk management measures should be proportional to the severity and likelihood of potential harms and the system's actual capabilities and limitations.
In plain language
Your safeguards should match the level of risk. A chatbot recommending movies needs fewer safety measures than an AI diagnosing disease; the stakes determine the caution you apply.
Why this matters
Proportionality is a governance efficiency principle that aligns risk controls with actual hazard levels. Not every AI system needs the same oversight. Your governance framework should scale requirements based on impact and likelihood, ensuring rigorous controls where they matter most without overburdening low-risk applications.
Relevance
GovernanceProportionate governance frameworks allow organisations to allocate limited resources effectively, focusing intensive oversight on high-impact systems while maintaining baseline standards across all AI deployments.
Related terms
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