How Does The EU AI Act Affect Digital Marketing?

The EU AI Act is a trailblazing piece of legislation geared towards regulating the use of artificial intelligence within the European Union. Any business, regardless of its location, that has an EU presence and deploys AI systems in Europe or whose AI outputs are used in Europe will be subject to this Act. The Act categorizes AI systems based on their risk levels: unacceptable, high, limited, and minimal.

Unacceptable Risk AI Systems

AI systems that pose as an unacceptable risk are outright banned in the EU. These include platforms that engage in:

• social scoring
• predictive policing
• real-time biometric identification under most circumstances
• and manipulative or deceptive practices.

The prohibition of such systems highlights EU's commitment to protect its citizens from invasive and harmful AI applications.

High-Risk AI Systems

Those AI systems under this category are not banned but are subject to stringent regulations. These systems include those impacting:

• education
• employment
• justice
• and electoral processes.

Therefore, providers of high-risk AI must:

• implement a risk management system.
• ensure data governance to maintain relevant, representative, and accurate training data.
• design systems to allow human oversight.
• provide documentation demonstrating compliance.

General Purpose AI Systems

General Purpose AI (GPAI) systems, such as large language models, are not classified as high risk but they must adhere to transparency requirements.

Minimal- Risk AI Systems

Minimal-risk AI systems such as spam filters and search engines are not regulated under the EU AI Act and do not demand additional oversight.

Transparency Obligations

While most digital marketing activities do not involve high-risk AI, they have transparency requirements. Here is a list to help you out:

• chatbots
• emotion detection systems
• biometric data categorization tools
• content generation platforms
• manipulation platforms like Deepfakes

Marketers must ensure whether these tools comply with the EU AI Act’s transparency obligations.

Companies using AI tools such as ChatGPT or Midjourney must disclose any copyrighted material used in AI development, which also includes private algorithmic training. This shows the transparency in AI usage and that it adheres to intellectual property laws.

Failure to abide by the EU AI Act can result in castigations ranging from warnings to fines up to €35 million or 7% of your business's total worldwide annual turnover.

Best Practices for Compliance

To navigate these regulations, as a digital marketer, you should:

• document the use of AI tools
• assess the impacts
• record actions taken to mitigate risks

Regularly update and securely store this document to be prepared for audits as this will serve as a foundation for good AI governance.

The EU AI Act represents a big shift in the usage of AI, which emphasizes transparency and ethical use. Marketers must stay informed and proactive, ensuring compliance not only with current regulations but also preparing for future developments.

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