# 3 Terms and definitions, ISO 42102

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  3 Clause

  

# Terms and definitions

  The draft defines seven terms of its own and imports the rest from the AI vocabulary standard. The seven are algorithm, AI system capabilities, capability, conversational learning, emergent behaviour, matrix and hybrid AI. Together they fix what the two dimensions are.

  
- defined terms

- ISO/IEC DIS 42102

- Last updated: 2026-10-22

  
    

## What this settles

The seven entries are the load-bearing words of the framework. Capability is the unit on one axis, matrix is the shape of the whole, and hybrid AI plus conversational learning mark where a single method label stops being enough.

    

## Who it binds

The organisation that uses the descriptors. The definitions are not duties, but a description that uses these words in a different sense will not be comparable with another organisation that follows the draft.

    

## What to do in your practice

Build a seven-row glossary with the imported 22989 entries beside it. For each row, write the local synonym your teams actually use. That column is where most disagreements surface before they reach a supplier.

    

## Evidence an auditor or regulator asks for

      Three artefacts that make this unit checkableA glossary with the seven entries, the imported entries and local synonyms.Shows the vocabulary is controlled, not improvised.
One system description that uses at least three entries correctly.Tests the glossary against real work.
A named owner and review date for the glossary.Keeps the vocabulary alive after the workshop.

    Ask your teamWhich of the seven words does our organisation use in a different sense from the draft, and where is that written down?

    

## Common gaps this page catches

- The glossary lists words without saying which standard fixes their meaning.

- Capability is used to mean a feature, a model or a team skill in three different documents.

- Local synonyms are passed around verbally and never recorded.

    

## What to prepare before publication

Draft the seven-row glossary now. The entries are public, so this is the one part of the record that can be completed before the full text is available.

    

## How to test it here

Take one live system rather than a template, find the field or sentence where Terms and definitions is used, and put this page beside it. Record the answer, the artefact and the date. A glossary entry on its own is an intention; a dated record beside a live artefact is evidence.

    

## What this page does not claim

The page does not reproduce the draft, does not know the descriptor wording that the public preview withholds, and does not certify the system or the organisation. It states the unit at the claim level "defined terms" and stops where the public record stops.

    

## Common questions

    What does Terms and definitions mean in ISO/IEC DIS 42102?
The draft defines seven terms of its own and imports the rest from the AI vocabulary standard. The seven are algorithm, AI system capabilities, capability, conversational learning, emergent behaviour, matrix and hybrid AI. Together they fix what the two dimensions are.
What evidence should we keep for 3?
A glossary with the seven entries, the imported entries and local synonyms. One system description that uses at least three entries correctly.
Is Terms and definitions a requirement?
No. The draft is a descriptive framework. It sets no management system requirement and no conformity test. It becomes binding only when a contract, a regulator or a management system adopts it.

    

## Related units

    
- 2 Normative references

- 4.4 Understanding AI methods and AI system capabilities

- 5.5 Hybrid AI

- 6 AI system capabilities dimension

- 7.3 Characterization framework of AI system methods and capabilities

  

  
    
      

## Source and claim

      ISO/IEC DIS 42102, Clause 3, Terms and definitions

      Open the ISO public entry

      https://www.iso.org/standard/86898.html

      Retrieved 22 October 2026.

      The clause is in the public preview: seven entries are published and the rest come from ISO/IEC 22989:2022.

    

    
      

## The record

      Stage 40.60, Close of voting, recorded 8 September 2026.

      Planning date 16 September 2027, an estimate. See the basis.

      The draft record · How it is built

    

    
      

## Check your own system

      Build the method and capability matrix from ten answers and see which cells still need evidence.

      Run the free check

    

  

Nothing here is guessed while you wait. Every line is written from the public ISO record and the public preview, and points to the exact clause it came from. How the record is built.

Last updated: 2026-10-22 · Markdown version · Check your system

Source: https://iso-42102-revision-checker.theartofservice.com/clauses/terms-and-definitions/