# 3.3 capability, ISO 42102

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  3.3 Defined term

  

# capability

  The ability of a system to carry out a task. It is a property of the system, stated as what it can do, not as how it does it.

  
- defined term

- ISO/IEC DIS 42102

- Last updated: 2026-10-22

  
    

## What this settles

This is the unit of claim on the capability axis. A capability is testable in principle, which is what separates it from a feature list or an aspiration.

    

## Who it binds

No one. It is a definition. It becomes operative when a description, a contract or an assessment uses it.

    

## What to do in your practice

Write each capability as a testable sentence and attach a method and an evidence item. Where the ability cannot be tested, mark it as a claim under development rather than presenting it as established.

    

## Evidence an auditor or regulator asks for

      Three artefacts that make this unit checkableA capability statement with a population, a condition and a measure.Makes the ability testable.
An evidence item linked to the statement.Shows the claim is supported.
A list of abilities that are claimed but not yet testable.Separates established from developing claims.

    Ask your teamWhich capability do we claim that we could not test this week?

    

## Common gaps this page catches

- Capability is used for a feature, a model or a team skill.

- A claim is made without a population or a measure.

- An untestable ability is presented as established.

    

## What to prepare before publication

Rewrite one capability into the testable form and use it as the pattern. A single worked example changes more behaviour than a definition in a glossary.

    

## How to test it here

Take one live system rather than a template, find the field or sentence where capability 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 term" and stops where the public record stops.

    

## Common questions

    What does capability mean in ISO/IEC DIS 42102?
The ability of a system to carry out a task. It is a property of the system, stated as what it can do, not as how it does it.
What evidence should we keep for 3.3?
A capability statement with a population, a condition and a measure. An evidence item linked to the statement.
Is capability 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

    
- 3 Terms and definitions

- 3.2 AI system capabilities

- 6 AI system capabilities dimension

- 7.3 Characterization framework of AI system methods and capabilities

  

  
    
      

## Source and claim

      ISO/IEC DIS 42102, Clause 3.3, capability

      Open the ISO public entry

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

      Retrieved 22 October 2026.

      The definition is in the public preview, in clause 3.

    

    
      

## 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/glossary/capability/