How to Tell If a Veterinary AI Tool Meets Global Safety Standards: A Guide to Certifications that Actually Mean Something

If you’re trying to evaluate whether an AI product is safe or ethically designed, you’ll quickly realize that there’s no universal standard - and formal regulation often isn’t required at all. That’s where internationally recognized standards come in.

While not legally required, ISO and IEEE certifications can be strong indicators that a product is developed with serious attention to ethics, safety, security, and quality. Although there are very few internationally recognized certifications specific to AI at this point, these two frameworks are strict, internationally respected, and widely used in high-stakes industries like healthcare, aerospace, and cybersecurity. When an AI developer voluntarily aligns with these standards, it’s a green flag that they’ve committed to best practices as they’ve designed their model.

This blog outlines which certifications matter, what they mean, and where to look for them. (More will be added as I continue to find them.)

ISO Standards (International Organization for Standardization)

ISO standards are used globally across industries, including healthcare, data science, and software engineering. Here are the most relevant categories for AI tools:

AI Data Quality & Management

• ISO/IEC 5259 series (Parts 1–5): Covers everything from AI data quality terminology to measurement frameworks and governance:

  • Part 1: Overview

  • Part 2: Data quality measures

  • Part 3: Management guidelines

  • Part 4: Process framework

  • Part 5: Governance framework

• ISO/IEC 25024:2015: Measurement of data quality in systems/software based on defined characteristics.

AI & Information Security

• ISO/IEC 42001:2023: AI Management Systems (AIMS) – how to organize and govern AI at the organizational level.

• ISO/IEC 27001:2022: Information security management – one of the most well-known certifications for data security across tech industries.

AI Safety Systems

• ISO/IEC TR 5469:2024: Functional safety of AI systems – covers AI embedded in safety-critical operations.

AI Impact & Risk Management

• ISO/IEC 42005:2025: AI system impact assessment – for anticipating risks to individuals or society.

• ISO/IEC 23894:2023: AI-specific risk management

• ISO 14971:2019: Risk management for medical devices – relevant for AI used in diagnostics or clinical decision support.

• ISO/IEC 24029-1 & 24029-2: Robustness of neural networks and formal methods for safety assurance.

AI Concepts & Lifecycle

• ISO/IEC 22989:2022: AI concepts & terminology

• ISO/IEC 23053:2022: ML system frameworks

• ISO/IEC 5338:2023: AI system lifecycle processes

AI Use by Organizations

• ISO/IEC 38507:2022: Governance of AI within organizations

Medical Specialty: Dentistry

• ISO 18374:2025: AI for dental 2D radiograph analysis

Use Cases & Performance

• ISO/IEC TR 24030:2024: AI use case library

• ISO/IEC TS 4213:2022: ML classification performance assessment

IEEE Standards (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

IEEE focuses heavily on technical safety, transparency, and human-centered design in autonomous systems. These are widely respected, especially in clinical and infrastructure settings.

Explore all: IEEE Autonomous and Intelligent Systems

IEEE 7000 Series (AI-Specific)

• Addresses ethics, data privacy, bias, transparency, and fail-safe design:

  • 7000: Ethical system design

  • 7001: Transparency

  • 7002: Data privacy process

  • 7003: Algorithmic bias

  • 7005: Employer data governance

  • 7007: Ethically driven robotics

  • 7009: Fail-safe design

  • 7010: Human well-being impact

  • 7014: Emulated empathy

IEEE 2089-2021

• Age-appropriate digital services - based on the 5Rights framework for child protections online.

Bonus: IEEE Professional Certification

If you see that a company an IEEE AI certified-professional, that’s a strong sign of internal expertise in safe and ethical AI deployment.

Why This Matters for Vet Med

Most AI tools you’ll encounter in veterinary medicine won’t list all these standards on their homepage. But if they reference ISO or IEEE alignment, especially in areas like data quality, risk, bias, or safety - you’re dealing with a company that has done the extra work.

When in doubt, ask vendors:

• Have you followed any ISO or IEEE guidelines during development?

• Have any independent audits or certifications been completed?

  • Note that there are some developing AI audit systems, but none of which have reached the international respect of the above certifications yet.

You don’t need to be a regulatory expert, but you do need to recognize the signs of a well-built product. Certifications like these serve as clear, trustworthy markers that a developer has taken extra, voluntary steps to prioritize safety, security, and ethical design.

Now, go find some Vet AI Tools!