// GLOSSARY

Human in the Loop

Binding an automated flow to a human decision before it takes a consequential step. In AI-assisted offensive workflows it is the mandatory gate standing in front of every step that touches the target. The aim is not to slow things down but to lock irreversible action behind human approval; the agent may do reconnaissance, generate hypotheses and process evidence, but a human pulls the trigger. This distinction is the line that separates AI-assisted offensive work from the fear of a 'fully autonomous attack agent', and it arises from a practical reality of responsibility: the legal, contractual and operational consequences of a step taken in a penetration test can be borne by an authorized human, not by software. Human-in-the-loop left as an abstract principle is inert; together with the approval model it becomes a working mechanism defining who approves which step with what authority. Observability makes visible what happens behind this gate; the three together build the structure that makes automation accountable.