What is a Machine Identity? Understanding AI Access Control

Machine identities, which include AI agents, microservices, and automated systems, are increasingly becoming predominant over human users in digital systems. Unlike traditional static machine identities, modern machine identities are dynamic entities capable of decision-making and autonomous actions, often on behalf of humans. This shift necessitates a reevaluation of identity and access control models, as the current separation between human and machine identity pipelines is unsustainable. The rise of AI-driven machine identities challenges traditional role-based access control (RBAC) frameworks, urging a move towards Relationship-Based Access Control (ReBAC) that considers the context and relationships between entities. Unified identity management, integrating machine identities into the same pipelines as human users, is proposed as a solution to ensure robust access control and accountability. This approach simplifies identity models, enhances traceability, and is vital for managing the complex interactions and exponential growth of machine identities in modern applications.