Authority represents the principle that the existence of a Policy and who has the legitimate authority to establish or apply that Policy are separate questions.

AI governance may involve many rules simultaneously, including laws, regulations, organizational Policies, technical standards, and contracts. It is not sufficient for AI merely to discover these rules or interpret their content correctly. Governance must also establish Authority: where the rule originated, who established it, to whom and under what scope it applies, and whether it remains valid.

For example, the same AI system may simultaneously be subject to national law, regulatory requirements, industry standards, organizational Policies, and contractual conditions. These do not carry the same authority, nor do they necessarily have the same scope or priority. Applicable Authority may also change across countries, regions, industries, organizations, and purposes of use.

I2EA therefore does not ask AI to determine the “correct rule” on its own. Instead, it explicitly connects an applicable Policy with the Authority that supports it.

“Please provide the applicable policy.”

As this statement suggests, AI itself is not the source of institutional authority. AI may process Facts, perform Evaluation, and assist in handling institutional information. However, it does not possess the Authority to create which Policy is legitimately applicable.

Authority also does not simply mean Human Approval. The essential question is not whether a human or an AI makes the judgment, but where legitimate authority resides. Authority may derive directly from law or may be assigned to regulators, responsible organizational actors, professional bodies, or other legitimate institutions.

This connects directly to the principle “Intelligence Is Not Authority.” Advanced intelligence or high decision accuracy does not confer institutional Authority.

By recording Policy and Authority separately, I2EA makes it possible to trace not only which Policy was applied, but also the Authority under which that Policy was applied.

Policy structures what should apply.Authority establishes who has the legitimate power to determine or authorize it.

Only after Policy and Authority are connected can the system proceed to a Decision that applies them to a specific situation.