What does the requirement of human oversight in high-risk AI systems ensure?

The requirement of human oversight in high-risk AI systems is fundamentally about ensuring safety, ethical compliance, and accountability. By integrating human oversight, the objective is to protect individuals and society from potential harms that AI systems can pose, especially in high-stakes scenarios such as healthcare, legal, or financial decision-making.

Human oversight acts as a safeguard against risks to health and safety by allowing human reviewers to intervene when an AI system's decision-making may not align with ethical standards or could lead to dangerous outcomes. This oversight can prevent scenarios where an AI system might misinterpret data or act unpredictably, thereby preserving human well-being.

It is important to emphasize that this approach does not focus on promoting complete automation or reducing employment, as these aspects would generally not be viewed as beneficial in the context of high-risk environments. Instead, the goal is to create a framework where human judgment operates alongside AI systems, ensuring a safer and more reliable outcome. Additionally, the complexity of AI algorithms isn't inherently increased by requiring human oversight; rather, it is centered on making sure that AI systems operate in a manner that is aligned with ethical and safety standards.