{"record_type":"pith_number_record","schema_url":"https://pith.science/schemas/pith-number/v1.json","pith_number":"pith:2026:DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY","short_pith_number":"pith:DWTRV74D","schema_version":"1.0","canonical_sha256":"1da71aff83a78b2eafba986bb387910e35cdb73f91add2386efe64a96b98f630","source":{"kind":"arxiv","id":"2605.13723","version":1},"attestation_state":"computed","paper":{"title":"Humanwashing -- It Should Leave You Feeling Dirty","license":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","headline":"The 'human in the loop' metaphor in AI discussions often obscures real oversight needs and enables misleading safety claims.","cross_cats":["cs.AI","cs.LG","cs.SI"],"primary_cat":"cs.HC","authors_text":"Ben Wilson, Matimba Swana, Matt Roach, Peter Winter","submitted_at":"2026-05-13T16:05:43Z","abstract_excerpt":"The phrase 'human in the loop' is increasingly used to imply a sense of safety in relation to AI decision systems. It shouldn't. There are contexts where it can be applied appropriately, but these are not in the deployed decision systems we see dominating today. Human oversight of AI decision processes is one of the most popular proposals for addressing concerns, especially about bias, discrimination, misinformation, manipulation, accountability, and transparency. But there is insufficient examination of what human oversight actually means. The question raised in this paper is whether using th"},"verification_status":{"content_addressed":true,"pith_receipt":true,"author_attested":false,"weak_author_claims":0,"strong_author_claims":0,"externally_anchored":false,"storage_verified":false,"citation_signatures":0,"replication_records":0,"graph_snapshot":true,"references_resolved":true,"formal_links_present":false},"canonical_record":{"source":{"id":"2605.13723","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"metadata":{"license":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","primary_cat":"cs.HC","submitted_at":"2026-05-13T16:05:43Z","cross_cats_sorted":["cs.AI","cs.LG","cs.SI"],"title_canon_sha256":"363a9f60dcf8ab7c95795bb7043a6b2c9a1d52f5efe025dea3300cdc3cf580d9","abstract_canon_sha256":"d25a6fe5099bc2a9f26fc977062161966d9b0a3822835280ae916b1846821b9e"},"schema_version":"1.0"},"receipt":{"kind":"pith_receipt","key_id":"pith-v1-2026-05","algorithm":"ed25519","signed_at":"2026-05-18T02:44:16.637706Z","signature_b64":"DAA5DGJfPSB8r3Bs5EFTBY5U+F4tGIgl70Mfh39qEGrF/h8fVqEz5FXeMGwwH0Ztzfs150XvI/yegekwCYxACA==","signed_message":"canonical_sha256_bytes","builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1","receipt_version":"0.3","canonical_sha256":"1da71aff83a78b2eafba986bb387910e35cdb73f91add2386efe64a96b98f630","last_reissued_at":"2026-05-18T02:44:16.637086Z","signature_status":"signed_v1","first_computed_at":"2026-05-18T02:44:16.637086Z","public_key_fingerprint":"8d4b5ee74e4693bcd1df2446408b0d54"},"graph_snapshot":{"paper":{"title":"Humanwashing -- It Should Leave You Feeling Dirty","license":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","headline":"The 'human in the loop' metaphor in AI discussions often obscures real oversight needs and enables misleading safety claims.","cross_cats":["cs.AI","cs.LG","cs.SI"],"primary_cat":"cs.HC","authors_text":"Ben Wilson, Matimba Swana, Matt Roach, Peter Winter","submitted_at":"2026-05-13T16:05:43Z","abstract_excerpt":"The phrase 'human in the loop' is increasingly used to imply a sense of safety in relation to AI decision systems. It shouldn't. There are contexts where it can be applied appropriately, but these are not in the deployed decision systems we see dominating today. Human oversight of AI decision processes is one of the most popular proposals for addressing concerns, especially about bias, discrimination, misinformation, manipulation, accountability, and transparency. But there is insufficient examination of what human oversight actually means. The question raised in this paper is whether using th"},"claims":{"count":4,"items":[{"kind":"strongest_claim","text":"Indiscriminate use of the loop metaphor obscures both processes and outcomes. It enables 'humanwashing', an activity analogous to 'greenwashing'.","source":"verdict.strongest_claim","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C1","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"weakest_assumption","text":"That the metaphor is being used in contexts where it does not assist understanding and primarily serves to put systems in the best light.","source":"verdict.weakest_assumption","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C2","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"one_line_summary","text":"The 'human in the loop' metaphor in AI systems enables 'humanwashing' by obscuring actual oversight processes and outcomes.","source":"verdict.one_line_summary","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C3","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"headline","text":"The 'human in the loop' metaphor in AI discussions often obscures real oversight needs and enables misleading safety claims.","source":"verdict.pith_extraction.headline","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C4","attestation":"unclaimed"}],"snapshot_sha256":"75b0e6afa69fda6c6b96164cbffab4beed60efd19936b635ba5cd2d6c7c8b023"},"source":{"id":"2605.13723","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":"f22fd1a6-839d-44a6-ab2f-b488d718246a","model_set":{"reader":"grok-4.3"},"created_at":"2026-05-14T17:41:13.235087Z","strongest_claim":"Indiscriminate use of the loop metaphor obscures both processes and outcomes. It enables 'humanwashing', an activity analogous to 'greenwashing'.","one_line_summary":"The 'human in the loop' metaphor in AI systems enables 'humanwashing' by obscuring actual oversight processes and outcomes.","pipeline_version":"pith-pipeline@v0.9.0","weakest_assumption":"That the metaphor is being used in contexts where it does not assist understanding and primarily serves to put systems in the best light.","pith_extraction_headline":"The 'human in the loop' metaphor in AI discussions often obscures real oversight needs and enables misleading safety claims."},"references":{"count":39,"sample":[{"doi":"","year":2022,"title":"The Flaws of Policies Requiring Human Oversight of Government Algorithms","work_id":"b467f793-3966-4388-a926-3e86f06e002e","ref_index":1,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":2024,"title":"Rethinking ‘Meaningful Human Control’","work_id":"679ca9ca-08aa-4d12-92e6-8cc4bf0a02b5","ref_index":2,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":2025,"title":"Is Human Oversight to AI Systems Still Possible? New Biotechnology","work_id":"7a65e18e-0727-4784-b135-1a26e966ebe0","ref_index":3,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":2023,"title":"A Pro-Innovation Approach to AI Regulation","work_id":"1c212e4f-2b9f-4ed2-b365-b2c75bd2fe15","ref_index":4,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":2025,"title":"Information Commissioner’s Office. na, editor. How Do We Ensure Individual Rights in Our AI Systems?. ICO; 2025. https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and- resources/artificial-intelli","work_id":"1678ff71-84f0-45b9-a15d-d050caad3772","ref_index":5,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false}],"resolved_work":39,"snapshot_sha256":"8ed3a9e33579f95443156a3106388dfe866eb88343180f8027fc11364a4eec3a","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"},"aliases":[{"alias_kind":"arxiv","alias_value":"2605.13723","created_at":"2026-05-18T02:44:16.637182+00:00"},{"alias_kind":"arxiv_version","alias_value":"2605.13723v1","created_at":"2026-05-18T02:44:16.637182+00:00"},{"alias_kind":"doi","alias_value":"10.48550/arxiv.2605.13723","created_at":"2026-05-18T02:44:16.637182+00:00"},{"alias_kind":"pith_short_12","alias_value":"DWTRV74DU6FS","created_at":"2026-05-18T12:33:37.589309+00:00"},{"alias_kind":"pith_short_16","alias_value":"DWTRV74DU6FS5L52","created_at":"2026-05-18T12:33:37.589309+00:00"},{"alias_kind":"pith_short_8","alias_value":"DWTRV74D","created_at":"2026-05-18T12:33:37.589309+00:00"}],"events":[],"event_summary":{},"paper_claims":[],"inbound_citations":{"count":0,"internal_anchor_count":0,"sample":[]},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"sample":[],"anchors":[]},"links":{"html":"https://pith.science/pith/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY","json":"https://pith.science/pith/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY.json","graph_json":"https://pith.science/api/pith-number/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY/graph.json","events_json":"https://pith.science/api/pith-number/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY/events.json","paper":"https://pith.science/paper/DWTRV74D"},"agent_actions":{"view_html":"https://pith.science/pith/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY","download_json":"https://pith.science/pith/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY.json","view_paper":"https://pith.science/paper/DWTRV74D","resolve_alias":"https://pith.science/api/pith-number/resolve?arxiv=2605.13723&json=true","fetch_graph":"https://pith.science/api/pith-number/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY/graph.json","fetch_events":"https://pith.science/api/pith-number/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY/events.json","actions":{"anchor_timestamp":"https://pith.science/pith/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY/action/timestamp_anchor","attest_storage":"https://pith.science/pith/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY/action/storage_attestation","attest_author":"https://pith.science/pith/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY/action/author_attestation","sign_citation":"https://pith.science/pith/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY/action/citation_signature","submit_replication":"https://pith.science/pith/DWTRV74DU6FS5L52TBV3HB4RBY/action/replication_record"}},"created_at":"2026-05-18T02:44:16.637182+00:00","updated_at":"2026-05-18T02:44:16.637182+00:00"}