Practical requirements extracted from policy instruments, with the source article, the actors they bind, evidence examples and original framework mappings. Legal requirements are marked; everything else is voluntary guidance.
A deployer that generates or manipulates image, audio or video content that is a deep fake must disclose that the content has been artificially generated or manipulated, with lighter treatment for evidently artistic, creative, satirical or fictional works so that the disclosure does not spoil the work. A deployer that publishes AI-generated text to inform the public on matters of public interest must disclose this unless the text passed human review or editorial control and someone holds editorial responsibility. The disclosure must reach people clearly at the latest at first exposure.
Verified (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)Applies from 2 Aug 2026
Legal requirementTransparency and disclosure·European Union
A person affected by a decision that a deployer took on the basis of the output of an Annex III high-risk AI system, other than critical-infrastructure systems, which produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects them in a way they consider adverse to their health, safety or fundamental rights, has the right to obtain from the deployer clear and meaningful explanations of the role the system played in the decision and the main elements of the decision. The right does not apply where Union or national law provides an exception.
Verified (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)Applies from 2 Dec 2027
Legal requirementTransparency and disclosure·European Union
Deployers of Annex III high-risk AI systems that take decisions about natural persons, or help take them, must inform those persons that they are subject to the system. The notice is separate from any explanation owed under Article 86 and from the worker notice in Article 26(7). In law-enforcement contexts the duty follows the information rules of the Law Enforcement Directive.
Verified (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)Applies from 2 Dec 2027
Legal requirementTransparency and disclosure·European Union
A deployer of an emotion recognition system or a biometric categorisation system must inform the natural persons exposed to it that the system is operating and must process their personal data in line with the GDPR, the Law Enforcement Directive and the EU institutions data protection regulation. Systems permitted by law to detect, prevent or investigate criminal offences are excepted, subject to safeguards. Use in workplaces and schools is separately banned by Article 5 except for medical or safety reasons.
Verified (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)Applies from 2 Aug 2026
Legal requirementTransparency and disclosure·European Union
Providers must ensure AI systems intended to interact with people inform them they are dealing with AI unless obvious; providers of systems generating synthetic audio, image, video or text must mark output in a machine-readable, detectable format; deployers of emotion-recognition or biometric-categorisation systems must inform exposed persons; deployers must disclose deepfakes and AI-generated text published to inform the public on matters of public interest, subject to exceptions.
Pending review (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)Applies from 2 Aug 2026
Legal requirementTransparency and disclosure·European Union
Before putting a high-risk AI system into service or using it at the workplace, a deployer that is an employer must tell the workers' representatives and the affected workers that they will be subject to the system. The information is given following the procedures and rules on informing workers and their representatives under Union and national law and practice, which may include works-council consultation.
Verified (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)Applies from 2 Dec 2027
Legal requirementTransparency and disclosure·European Union
High-risk AI systems must be designed so their operation is sufficiently transparent for deployers to interpret output and use it appropriately, and must be accompanied by instructions for use covering the provider's identity, the system's characteristics, capabilities and limitations, performance for the intended purpose and known foreseeable misuse, human-oversight measures, expected lifetime and maintenance.
Pending review (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)Applies from 2 Dec 2027
Legal requirementTransparency and disclosure·European Union
Providers of AI systems, including general-purpose AI systems, that generate synthetic audio, image, video or text must ensure the output is marked in a machine-readable format and detectable as artificially generated or manipulated. The technical solution must be effective, interoperable, robust and reliable as far as the state of the art allows, taking account of content type and cost. Systems that only perform assistive editing or do not substantially alter the input, and law-authorised criminal-detection uses, are outside the duty.
Verified (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)Applies from 2 Aug 2026
A single practical requirement pulled out of an instrument and stated on its own: keep a risk management system, log incidents, document training data, provide human oversight, and so on. Each one cites the article or section it comes from so you can check it against the source.
Does a voluntary obligation have legal force?
No, and every obligation is labelled either a legal requirement or voluntary guidance. Voluntary items still matter in practice, because procurement questionnaires and auditors ask about them, but only the binding ones carry legal consequence.
How do I find the obligations that apply to my organisation?
Filter by jurisdiction, category, actor, sector or use case. The applicability check asks a short set of questions and returns the duties that may reach you. It is an educational screen, not a legal determination, and it says so.
Why do some instruments have no obligations listed?
Because nobody has broken them out yet. Most instruments are recorded at summary level first; obligations are added jurisdiction by jurisdiction. The coverage and open-gaps pages publish exactly what is missing rather than hiding it.
