“Human-in-the-loop” has become a box to tick. In a system that actually holds up, it is a person with the authority — and the information — to stop something before it reaches a user.
Review that can say no
A reviewer who can only rubber-stamp is not a control. Designing for real review means:
- Routing low-confidence or high-stakes output to a person by default, not as a fallback.
- Giving that person the grounding, the score, and the guardrail status, not just the answer.
- Recording the decision, so the loop is auditable after the fact.
Designing the loop in
The loop is cheapest to build when it is part of the architecture from the start — a checkpoint in the pipeline, not a meeting bolted on at the end.