Overview
ISO/IEC 5339:2024 - Information technology - Artificial intelligence - Guidance for AI applications provides macro‑level guidance to identify the context, opportunities and processes for developing and applying AI applications. The standard scopes the AI application context, maps stakeholders and their roles to the AI system life cycle, and describes common functional and non‑functional characteristics (for example, trustworthiness, risk management and ethics). ISO/IEC 5339:2024 complements technical AI standards by offering a high‑level framework to support multi‑stakeholder communication and acceptance.
Key topics and technical focus
- AI application context: Defines approaches for describing Who, What, Where, When and How across life‑cycle stages, including methods, data sources and deployment models.
- Stakeholder mapping: Identifies AI stakeholders (AI producer, AI developer, data provider, AI customer/user, AI subject, community, regulators) and their responsibilities across life‑cycle stages.
- Functional characteristics: Describes common capabilities and decision‑support roles of AI applications (e.g., augmentation vs. autonomy).
- Non‑functional considerations: Emphasizes trustworthiness, risk and risk management, ethics and societal concerns, and other quality attributes relevant to AI deployment.
- Framework and perspectives: Presents a common AI application framework organized around make, use and impact perspectives to guide design, use and governance.
- Processes and lifecycle alignment: Maps processes to ISO/IEC 22989 life‑cycle stages to ensure coherent stakeholder engagement and traceability.
- Support materials: Includes informative annexes with use cases to illustrate practical application contexts.
Note: ISO/IEC 5339:2024 is guidance‑oriented rather than prescriptive; it references terminology and life‑cycle definitions in ISO/IEC 22989:2022.
Applications and who should use it
This guidance is practical for anyone involved in planning, specifying, governing or procuring AI applications:
- Standards developers and technical committees seeking a common macro‑level framing for AI application standards.
- AI system architects, developers and integrators who need to map stakeholders, processes and non‑functional requirements.
- AI producers, data providers and cloud service customers to align roles, data practices and deployment choices.
- AI customers, users, auditors and regulators to assess trustworthiness, risk controls and societal impacts.
- Policy makers and organizational leaders planning governance, ethics and risk management frameworks for AI adoption.
Related standards
- ISO/IEC 22989:2022 - Artificial intelligence concepts and terminology (normative reference).
- ISO/IEC 5338 (referenced for life‑cycle alignment) and other ISO/IEC AI standards addressing technical and conformity aspects.
ISO/IEC 5339:2024 is targeted at improving cross‑stakeholder understanding of AI applications, supporting safer, more transparent and better‑governed AI deployment.
