Governance begins with “Reality,” the real-world environment from which AI systems and humans observe and obtain information.

Information in the real world does not exist from the outset in a single, organized form. It exists in diverse formats, including images, video, audio, documents, data, and source code. Nor is there necessarily only one source of information concerning the same event or object. For example, images, video footage, database records, and reports may each capture different aspects of the same event.

Furthermore, information is accompanied not only by its content but also by various attributes. These may include a Timestamp indicating when the information was generated or obtained; a Location indicating where it originated; an Identifier, Database Record, or Device ID identifying the information or object; and a Hash used to verify whether the information has been altered. Identity, Organization, Country / Jurisdiction, Region, and Professional License, which may indicate whom the information concerns or who generated it, can also constitute important attributes for understanding the information.

At the same time, information may carry attributes related to conditions of use. Consent, Confidentiality, Copyright, Minor, and Do Not Train relate to who may use the information, for what purposes, and within what scope. Even where the substantive content is identical, differences in such attributes or conditions may result in different permissible uses and different applicable rules.

Not all information, of course, possesses all of these attributes. Nor do the attributes presented here represent all attributes that may exist in the real world. The important point is that the real world contains information in diverse forms, each of which may carry different attributes, provenance, relationships, and conditions of use.

At this stage, such information has not yet been established as a “Fact.” Reality is the diverse and continuously changing information environment that exists before Facts are formed. The next stage considers what should be observed from this Reality and how it should be incorporated as a Fact.