---
type: source
title: "Human-in-the-Loop or Loophole? Targeting AI and Legal Accountability"
author: "Small Wars Journal (Arizona State University)"
url: https://smallwarsjournal.com/2026/03/11/human-in-the-loop/
date: 2026-03-11
domain: grand-strategy
secondary_domains: [ai-alignment]
format: article
status: unprocessed
priority: high
tags: [hitl, human-in-the-loop, ai-targeting, meaningful-oversight, governance-laundering, laws-of-war]
---

## Content

Analysis of whether "human-in-the-loop" requirements constitute meaningful accountability for AI-assisted targeting, or whether they are governance laundering at the accountability level.

Key passage: "A human cannot exercise true agency if they lack the time or information to contest a machine's high-confidence recommendation. As planning cycles compress from hours to mere seconds, the pressure to accept an AI recommendation without scrutiny will intensify."

The article identifies three conditions for HITL to be substantive (not just formal):
1. Sufficient time to independently verify the AI recommendation
2. Access to information the AI used, in a form humans can evaluate
3. Real authority to halt or override without mission pressure to accept

The Minab context: human reviewers did examine targets 24-48 hours before the strike. But at 1,000+ targets/hour operational tempo, the ratio of available human reviewer time to targets requiring review approaches zero. Humans were formally in the loop; substantively, they were processing rubber stamps on AI-generated target packages.

The article argues HITL requirements in current DoD policy (DoD Directive 3000.09) do not specify any of the three conditions above. The directive requires "appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force" without defining what makes a level of judgment "appropriate" relative to operational tempo.

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** This is the academic articulation of the HITL governance laundering thesis. The title "Loophole" explicitly names the pattern. The three conditions for substantive HITL are precise and falsifiable — they can be used as criteria for evaluating whether any proposed HITL legislation is substantive or formal.

**What surprised me:** That the article is from Small Wars Journal (a practitioner publication) rather than a purely academic outlet — this suggests the HITL meaninglessness insight is present inside the military practitioner community, not just among critics. The governance gap isn't hidden; it's discussed internally.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Evidence that DoD is revising Directive 3000.09 to incorporate the three conditions. No such revision was found.

**KB connections:** Directly supports the HITL governance laundering claim candidate from Session 04-12. Connects to the Baker/Guardian article (tempo as systemic design failure). Pairs with Just Security's Article 57 "reasonably current" analysis.

**Extraction hints:** The three HITL substantiveness conditions (verification time, information quality, real override authority) are directly extractable as a claim: "Meaningful human oversight of AI targeting requires three structural conditions: sufficient verification time, evaluable information access, and unpenalized override authority — current DoD Directive 3000.09 mandates none of the three."

**Context:** Small Wars Journal is a peer-reviewed practitioner journal affiliated with Arizona State University, focused on irregular warfare, counterterrorism, and military adaptation. Published March 11, 2026 — 11 days after the Minab strike.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)

PRIMARY CONNECTION: HITL governance laundering mechanism — connects to governance laundering pattern (Level 7)

WHY ARCHIVED: Provides the three-condition framework for distinguishing substantive from procedural HITL — this is directly extractable as a claim and generates a research agenda (does any proposed legislation meet the three conditions?)

EXTRACTION HINT: Focus on the three conditions as the claim, not the HITL critique generally. The falsifiable claim: "DoD Directive 3000.09's HITL requirements are insufficient because they mandate human presence without ensuring verification time, information quality, or override authority"
