# "A human stays in the loop"

## This week's cartoon

![Cartoon: a smiling robot sprays out a stack of plain sheets, a frazzled employee with glasses slams a giant gold rubber stamp on each one, and the stamped piles beside him all carry a gold imprint of his own face. A grinning manager holds up one stamped sheet, points at the face, and says, "Don't worry, a human stays in the loop."](../../img/cartoons/in-the-loop.jpg)

> _He stayed in the loop. So did the blame._

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### Glossary · *human in the loop*

**Human in the loop** is the promise that a person checks what an automated system produces before it counts. On a slide it sounds like control. In practice it often means one person signs off on more output than anyone could read, at the speed the machine sets. The checking turns into stamping, and every stamp carries a name.

The tell is the ratio. Count how many items reach you in a day and how long you get with each one. If the volume went up and your time per item went down, you are no longer reviewing the work. You are absorbing the blame for it. Ask what you are allowed to reject, how fast you are expected to clear the queue, and who answers when the system is wrong but you approved it. A loop where you can only say yes is a signature, not a check.