A Warm Body in the Loop Rethinking Human Control of AI in EU Tech RegulationBrussels has recently signalled a shift in its approach to technology regulation, focusing on simplification through various Omnibus packages (Commission 2025). It questions whether such human involvement is meaningful or merely symbolic. We argue that for human involvement to offer genuine protection, it needs to be based on clearer conceptual foundations. “Human in the loop” refers to a system or a process where human involvement is an important but not the exclusive part of an operation. Yet, this regulatory design raises a crucial question: what exactly does human involvement achieve, and under what conditions does it work?