# 3.7 hybrid AI, ISO 42102

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  3.7 Defined term

  

# hybrid AI

  A method that combines mechanisms from different families: learning approaches, knowledge forms, neural designs, symbolic reasoning or statistical models.

  
- defined term

- ISO/IEC DIS 42102

- Last updated: 2026-10-22

  
    

## What this settles

The definition acknowledges that many real systems are combinations. It removes the false choice between a single label and no description, and it points the reader to the seams.

    

## Who it binds

No one. It is a definition. It becomes operative when a system is described as hybrid and a claim depends on the combination.

    

## What to do in your practice

Record which families are combined and what passes between them. Name the authoritative component for each decision and test a fallback. A hybrid label without the seam detail says almost nothing.

    

## Evidence an auditor or regulator asks for

      Three artefacts that make this unit checkableA seam map naming the families and the interfaces.Gives the hybrid label its content.
A fallback test with the observed result.Shows the combination behaves as claimed.
An authority note per decision.Answers which component decides.

    Ask your teamWhich families are combined here, and what happens at the seam when they disagree?

    

## Common gaps this page catches

- Hybrid is used as a synonym for complex, with no families named.

- The seam is undocumented and a failure is attributed to the wrong component.

- No fallback is tested, so the combination is assumed to be robust.

    

## What to prepare before publication

Name the families and draw the seam map. It is usually the fastest way to find the untested path in a modern system.

    

## How to test it here

Take one live system rather than a template, find the field or sentence where hybrid AI 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 hybrid AI mean in ISO/IEC DIS 42102?
A method that combines mechanisms from different families: learning approaches, knowledge forms, neural designs, symbolic reasoning or statistical models.
What evidence should we keep for 3.7?
A seam map naming the families and the interfaces. A fallback test with the observed result.
Is hybrid AI 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

- 5.5 Hybrid AI

- 5 AI system methods dimension

- 7.2 Relation between AI tasks, AI components, AI methods and AI capabilities

  

  
    
      

## Source and claim

      ISO/IEC DIS 42102, Clause 3.7, hybrid AI

      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/hybrid-ai/