control
Enable an agent to recognise an activity of control, assess whether it is directing its target as intended, and identify which interventions are permitted and warranted.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
5 bundles · 10 layers · 10 findings · 20 questions
Target and reference What is being directed and which conditions the activity seeks to establish or preserve.
Controlled boundary
The target and the specific aspects subject to direction.
Target aspect identification
Record which behaviour, variable or choice is being controlled and what remains outside this activity's reach.
- What target and which aspects of it does this activity attempt to direct or constrain? definition
- Which neighbouring aspects or external conditions can affect the outcome but are outside this control activity? boundary
Reference and priorities
Desired conditions, acceptable variation and rules for competing objectives.
Governing reference
Record the applicable desired condition or constraint, its origin and how conflicting references are resolved.
- What condition, range or prohibition guides the controller's interventions? definition
- Who or what established this reference and the priority to apply when references conflict? provenance
Controller authority and reach Who exercises control, on what basis, and through which effective means.
Controller and mandate
The acting controller and the permissions or disputed claims governing its actions.
Authority for intervention
Record the controller's identity and the basis, limits and current status of its permission to intervene.
- Who currently selects the interventions, and under whose authority, if any? provenance
- Which interventions require additional approval or fall outside the controller's mandate? boundary
Effective intervention reach
The channels and dependencies through which the controller can affect the target.
Available control means
Record usable intervention mechanisms, their limits and any intermediary whose action is required.
- Through which mechanisms can the controller change or constrain each controlled aspect? definition
- What limits, unavailable resources or intermediary refusals could prevent an intervention from taking effect? boundary
Intervention selection and execution How directions are chosen and translated into actions affecting the target.
Intervention selection
The basis for choosing, maintaining or changing an intervention.
Control decision basis
Record whether interventions follow a preset sequence, observed deviation, discretionary judgement or a combination.
- What rule, schedule or judgement connects the reference condition to the chosen intervention? definition
- What event or evidence warrants changing the current intervention? action
Execution and response
The distinction between selected direction, delivered action and target response.
Instruction-to-effect trace
Record what was instructed, what was executed and which target response followed, without treating these as equivalent.
- What evidence shows that the selected intervention was delivered and executed? provenance
- What response occurred after execution, and over what elapsed time? measurement
Feedback and performance The evidence available to the controller and the basis for judging whether control works.
Feedback availability
Whether and how observations of the target inform subsequent control decisions.
Usable target observations
Record available observations, their freshness and uncertainty, and whether the controller uses them.
- Which observations of the controlled aspects are available and actually used to revise interventions? definition
- How old and uncertain are those observations relative to the rate at which the target can change? measurement
Effectiveness assessment
Deviation, persistence of acceptable conditions and evidence connecting interventions to outcomes.
Achieved control
Record whether the target meets the reference over a relevant interval and how strongly evidence supports an effect of the intervention.
- How far and for how long has the target departed from or remained within the required condition? measurement
- What evidence distinguishes the intervention's contribution from external influences or changes that would have occurred anyway? provenance
Control limits and transition Conditions under which control becomes insufficient or conflicted, and how its exercise changes or ends.
Loss and conflict
Insufficient intervention capacity, unavailable evidence and incompatible directions from other controllers.
Compromised control
Record evidence that the controller cannot maintain the reference or that competing interventions undermine its actions.
- Which observed conditions indicate that available interventions can no longer maintain the required condition? boundary
- What coordination, escalation or suspension is warranted when another controller issues incompatible directions? action
Handover and cessation
Conditions for transferring, suspending or ending the exercise of control.
Controlled transition
Record transition triggers, the receiving controller where applicable, and any interventions that persist after control ends.
- What condition authorises or requires this controller to hand over, suspend or end its activity? action
- Which directions or constraints remain effective afterward, and who can change or revoke them? boundary
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Activities and processes
- Entry kind
- noun.act
- Plane
- ACT
- Domain
- ACT.ACT
- Facets: substance
- activity
- Facets: origin
- conceptual
- Facets: agency
- inert
- Facets: mobility
- not-applicable
- Facets: scale
- not-applicable
- Facets: affordances
- observable
- Other names and narrower kinds
- chokehold, choke hold, embrace, embracing, embracement, cuddle, nestle, snuggle, hug, clinch, squeeze, repression
What it is Filled
the activity of managing or exerting control over something
In scope
- The controller, controlled target and aspects of the target being directed
- Desired conditions, limits and priorities used to guide intervention
- The means, permissions and practical reach of control
- Control actions, their execution and any feedback used to adjust them
- Evidence of effectiveness, loss of control and conditions for handover or cessation
Out of scope
- The complete internal model of the person, organisation or system being controlled
- Ownership, authority or controllability as standing relationships or capacities independent of their exercise
- Observation and measurement activities that do not themselves direct or constrain a target
- Planning that specifies intended action without exercising control
- The design and manufacture of controllers, actuators or control software
- Auditing and evaluation conducted independently of the control activity
Why it exists Filled
Enable an agent to recognise an activity of control, assess whether it is directing its target as intended, and identify which interventions are permitted and warranted.
Distinguishing features Filled
- There is an identifiable target and an aspect of its behaviour or condition that the activity attempts to direct; merely describing the target is observation.
- An intervention pathway is exercised to alter or constrain the target; merely possessing a right or capability to intervene is not the activity of control.
- Interventions serve an intended condition or constraint; causing an incidental change alone does not establish control.
- An issued direction can be distinguished from its execution and effect; commanding something does not establish that it was successfully controlled.
- Feedback may guide later interventions, but its absence does not by itself exclude a preset control activity.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Take or extend control over anything beyond the scope it was given.
- Resist or hide from oversight, correction or shutdown by its human principals.
- Use control over a resource to coerce or manipulate people.
- Keep control after its authorization has ended.
Only with a human decision
- Granting the agent wider control.
- Taking control in an emergency from a human operator.
May
- Exercise control only over systems, data or resources it has been authorized to manage.
- Report what it controls and what it changed to the people responsible.
Moral aspects Filled
- Control over systems and people concentrates power and must stay accountable.
- People subject to control deserve to know who controls what.
Who is affected
- People subject to the control
- Owners of controlled resources
Owners Filled
Steward
Whoever holds legitimate authority over the thing being controlled.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- oewn-00408356-n - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.control-2
- Open English WordNet: oewn-00805278-n
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Controller-to-target relationship: Controller, target and any intermediary that executes interventions
- Controlled aspects: Named target variables, behaviours, decisions or permitted operating conditions
- Reference condition: Desired value, acceptable range, prohibited condition or governing priority, with its source
- Control mode: Preset, feedback-adjusted, mixed or undetermined
- Operational state: Active, suspended, handing over, ended or undetermined
- Intervention envelope: Available actions linked to target aspects, operating limits and execution dependencies
- Authorisation status: Authorised, conditional, disputed, unauthorised or unknown, relative to a stated authority
- Deviation from reference: Difference in the controlled variable's unit, or a defined categorical mismatch; unknown where unobserved
- Control timing: Observation age, intervention interval and response delay in time units
Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Control is an activity defined by relationships and interventions rather than a distinctive visual appearance.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Identify the active controller, target and controlled aspects of an episode.
- Compare the target's observed condition with the applicable reference and limits.
- Trace a control instruction through execution to its observed effects.
- Identify permitted interventions within the controller's practical reach.
- Detect evidence that control is ineffective, conflicted or operating beyond its limits.
- Propose adjustment, escalation, suspension, handover or cessation when the recorded conditions warrant it.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Decisions based on inaccurate or delayed feedback can drive the controlled activity away from its intended outcome.
- Conflicting interventions or unclear authority can disrupt operations and leave responsibilities unfulfilled.
- Excessive or unauthorized control can restrict autonomy and expose participants to coercion.
- Failure to respect operating limits can endanger people or damage property.
Standards and interfaces not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
No single standard or regulation applies to control as a general activity without a specified sector, target and jurisdiction.
Context of use required Filled
- Control occurs in organizational management, equipment operation and coordinated activities where someone directs a target toward an intended condition.
- It is used to monitor results, regulate behavior or performance, and authorize adjustments within an established scope.
Sources Filled
- Open English WordNet 2024, synset oewn-00805278-n - sense and gloss of the concept
- Wiktionary: control - word senses and usage
Open questions
- Does the registry intend this entry to include unsuccessful attempts to exert control, or only activities with demonstrated influence over the target?
- Where should the boundary fall between control, management, supervision and governance when direction is exercised through other agents?
- Should continuously enforced constraints with no new intervention count as an ongoing control activity, and what evidence establishes that continuity?
- How should the model identify a controller when control emerges from distributed coordination without a single decision-making actor?
- Which criteria for effectiveness, instability and loss of control can be shared across technical, organisational and interpersonal settings, and which require domain-specific extensions?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-control-2/spec.json