EU AI Act: Prohibited AI Systems Ban under Article 5

The AI Act is the first-ever legal framework on AI, which addresses the risks of AI and positions Europe to play a leading role globally.

The AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence) is the first-ever comprehensive legal framework on AI worldwide. The aim of the rules is to foster trustworthy AI in Europe. For any questions on the AI Act, check out the AI Act Single Information platform.

The AI Act sets out a risk-based rules for AI developers and deployers regarding specific uses of AI. It is part of a wider package of policy measures to support the development of trustworthy AI, which includes the AI Continent Action Plan, the AI Innovation Package and the launch of AI Factories. Together, these measures guarantee safety, fundamental rights and human-centric AI, and strengthen uptake, investment and innovation in AI across the EU.

To facilitate the transition to the new regulatory framework, the Commission has launched the AI Pact, a voluntary initiative that seeks to support the future implementation, engage with stakeholders and invite AI providers and deployers from Europe and beyond to comply with the key obligations of the AI Act. In parallel, the AI Act Service Desk is also providing information and support for a smooth and effective implementation of the AI Act across the EU.

Why do we need rules on AI?

The AI Act ensures that Europeans can trust what AI has to offer. While most AI systems pose limited to no risk and can contribute to solving many societal challenges, certain AI systems create risks that we must address to avoid undesirable outcomes.

For example, it is often not possible to find out why an AI system has made a decision or prediction and taken a particular action. So, it may become difficult to assess whether someone has been unfairly disadvantaged, such as in a hiring decision or in an application for a public benefit scheme.

Although existing legislation provides some protection, it is insufficient to address the specific challenges AI systems may bring.

A Risk-based Approach

The AI Act defines 4 levels of risk for AI systems:

Unacceptable risk

All AI systems considered a clear threat to the safety, livelihoods and rights of people are banned. The AI Act prohibits nine practices, namely:

- harmful AI-based manipulation and deception

- harmful AI-based exploitation of vulnerabilities

- social scoring

- Individual criminal offence risk assessment or prediction

- untargeted scraping of the internet or CCTV material to create or expand facial recognition databases

- emotion recognition in workplaces and education institutions

- biometric categorisation to deduce certain protected characteristics

- real-time remote biometric identification for law enforcement purposes in publicly accessible spaces

- AI systems that generate non-consensual sexually explicit and intimate content or child sexual abuse (CSAM) material, such as AI ‘nudification' apps