AI Act — Recitals

All 180 recitals of the AI Act.

• Recital 1The purpose of this Regulation is to improve the functioning of the internal market by laying down a uniform legal framework in particular f…
• Recital 2This Regulation should be applied in accordance with the values of the Union enshrined as in the Charter, facilitating the protection of nat…
• Recital 3AI systems can be easily deployed in a large variety of sectors of the economy and many parts of society, including across borders, and can …
• Recital 4AI is a fast evolving family of technologies that contributes to a wide array of economic, environmental and societal benefits across the en…
• Recital 5At the same time, depending on the circumstances regarding its specific application, use, and level of technological development, AI may gen…
• Recital 6Given the major impact that AI can have on society and the need to build trust, it is vital for AI and its regulatory framework to be develo…
• Recital 7In order to ensure a consistent and high level of protection of public interests as regards health, safety and fundamental rights, common ru…
• Recital 8A Union legal framework laying down harmonised rules on AI is therefore needed to foster the development, use and uptake of AI in the intern…
• Recital 9Harmonised rules applicable to the placing on the market, the putting into service and the use of high-risk AI systems should be laid down c…
• Recital 10The fundamental right to the protection of personal data is safeguarded in particular by Regulations (EU) 2016/679and (EU) 2018/1725of the E…
• Recital 11This Regulation should be without prejudice to the provisions regarding the liability of providers of intermediary services as set out in Re…
• Recital 12The notion ofAI systemin this Regulation should be clearly defined and should be closely aligned with the work of international organisation…
• Recital 13The notion ofdeployerreferred to in this Regulation should be interpreted as any natural or legal person, including a public authority, agen…
• Recital 14The notion ofbiometric dataused in this Regulation should be interpreted in light of the notion of biometric data as defined in Article 4, p…
• Recital 15The notion ofbiometric identificationreferred to in this Regulation should be defined as the automated recognition of physical, physiologica…
• Recital 16The notion ofbiometric categorisationreferred to in this Regulation should be defined as assigning natural persons to specific categories on…
• Recital 17The notion ofremote biometric identification systemreferred to in this Regulation should be defined functionally, as an AI system intended f…
• Recital 18The notion ofemotion recognition systemreferred to in this Regulation should be defined as an AI system for the purpose of identifying or in…
• Recital 19For the purposes of this Regulation the notion ofpublicly accessible spaceshould be understood as referring to any physical space that is ac…
• Recital 20In order to obtain the greatest benefits from AI systems while protecting fundamental rights, health and safety and to enable democratic con…
• Recital 21In order to ensure a level playing field and an effective protection of rights and freedoms of individuals across the Union, the rules estab…
• Recital 22In light of their digital nature, certain AI systems should fall within the scope of this Regulation even when they are not placed on the ma…
• Recital 23This Regulation should also apply to Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies when acting as a provider or deployer of an AI system.
• Recital 24If, and insofar as, AI systems are placed on the market, put into service, or used with or without modification of such systems for military…
• Recital 25This Regulation should support innovation, should respect freedom of science, and should not undermine research and development activity. It…
• Recital 26In order to introduce a proportionate and effective set of binding rules for AI systems, a clearly defined risk-based approach should be fol…
• Recital 27While the risk-based approach is the basis for a proportionate and effective set of binding rules, it is important to recall the 2019 Ethics…
• Recital 28Aside from the many beneficial uses of AI, it can also be misused and provide novel and powerful tools for manipulative, exploitative and so…
• Recital 29AI-enabled manipulative techniques can be used to persuade persons to engage in unwanted behaviours, or to deceive them by nudging them into…
• Recital 30Biometric categorisation systems that are based on natural persons’ biometric data, such as an individual person’s face or fingerprint, to d…
• Recital 31AI systems providing social scoring of natural persons by public or private actors may lead to discriminatory outcomes and the exclusion of …
• Recital 32The use of AI systems forreal-timeremote biometric identification of natural persons in publicly accessible spaces for the purpose of law en…
• Recital 33The use of those systems for the purpose of law enforcement should therefore be prohibited, except in exhaustively listed and narrowly defin…
• Recital 34In order to ensure that those systems are used in a responsible and proportionate manner, it is also important to establish that, in each of…
• Recital 35Each use of areal-timeremote biometric identification system in publicly accessible spaces for the purpose of law enforcement should be subj…
• Recital 36In order to carry out their tasks in accordance with the requirements set out in this Regulation as well as in national rules, the relevant …
• Recital 37Furthermore, it is appropriate to provide, within the exhaustive framework set by this Regulation that such use in the territory of a Member…
• Recital 38The use of AI systems for real-time remote biometric identification of natural persons in publicly accessible spaces for the purpose of law …
• Recital 39Any processing of biometric data and other personal data involved in the use of AI systems for biometric identification, other than in conne…
• Recital 40In accordance with Article 6a of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, securit…
• Recital 41In accordance with Articles 2 and 2a of Protocol No 22 on the position of Denmark, annexed to the TEU and to the TFEU, Denmark is not bound …
• Recital 42In line with the presumption of innocence, natural persons in the Union should always be judged on their actual behaviour. Natural persons s…
• Recital 43The placing on the market, the putting into service for that specific purpose, or the use of AI systems that create or expand facial recogni…
• Recital 44There are serious concerns about the scientific basis of AI systems aiming to identify or infer emotions, particularly as expression of emot…
• Recital 45Practices that are prohibited by Union law, including data protection law, non-discrimination law, consumer protection law, and competition …
• Recital 46High-risk AI systems should only be placed on the Union market, put into service or used if they comply with certain mandatory requirements.…
• Recital 47AI systems could have an adverse impact on the health and safety of persons, in particular when such systems operate as safety components of…
• Recital 48The extent of the adverse impact caused by the AI system on the fundamental rights protected by the Charter is of particular relevance when …
• Recital 49As regards high-risk AI systems that are safety components of products or systems, or which are themselves products or systems falling withi…
• Recital 50As regards AI systems that are safety components of products, or which are themselves products, falling within the scope of certain Union ha…
• Recital 51The classification of an AI system as high-risk pursuant to this Regulation should not necessarily mean that the product whose safety compon…
• Recital 52As regards stand-alone AI systems, namely high-risk AI systems other than those that are safety components of products, or that are themselv…
• Recital 53It is also important to clarify that there may be specific cases in which AI systems referred to in pre-defined areas specified in this Regu…
• Recital 54As biometric data constitutes a special category of personal data, it is appropriate to classify as high-risk several critical-use cases of …
• Recital 55As regards the management and operation of critical infrastructure, it is appropriate to classify as high-risk the AI systems intended to be…
• Recital 56The deployment of AI systems in education is important to promote high-quality digital education and training and to allow all learners and …
• Recital 57AI systems used in employment, workers management and access to self-employment, in particular for the recruitment and selection of persons,…
• Recital 58Another area in which the use of AI systems deserves special consideration is the access to and enjoyment of certain essential private and p…
• Recital 59Given their role and responsibility, actions by law enforcement authorities involving certain uses of AI systems are characterised by a sign…
• Recital 60AI systems used in migration, asylum and border control management affect persons who are often in particularly vulnerable position and who …
• Recital 61Certain AI systems intended for the administration of justice and democratic processes should be classified as high-risk, considering their …
• Recital 62Without prejudice to the rules provided for in Regulation (EU) 2024/900 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and in order to addre…
• Recital 63The fact that an AI system is classified as a high-risk AI system under this Regulation should not be interpreted as indicating that the use…
• Recital 64To mitigate the risks from high-risk AI systems placed on the market or put into service and to ensure a high level of trustworthiness, cert…
• Recital 65The risk-management system should consist of a continuous, iterative process that is planned and run throughout the entire lifecycle of a hi…
• Recital 66Requirements should apply to high-risk AI systems as regards risk management, the quality and relevance of data sets used, technical documen…
• Recital 67High-quality data and access to high-quality data plays a vital role in providing structure and in ensuring the performance of many AI syste…
• Recital 68For the development and assessment of high-risk AI systems, certain actors, such as providers, notified bodies and other relevant entities, …
• Recital 69The right to privacy and to protection of personal data must be guaranteed throughout the entire lifecycle of the AI system. In this regard,…
• Recital 70In order to protect the right of others from the discrimination that might result from the bias in AI systems, the providers should, excepti…
• Recital 71Having comprehensible information on how high-risk AI systems have been developed and how they perform throughout their lifetime is essentia…
• Recital 72To address concerns related to opacity and complexity of certain AI systems and help deployers to fulfil their obligations under this Regula…
• Recital 73High-risk AI systems should be designed and developed in such a way that natural persons can oversee their functioning, ensure that they are…
• Recital 74High-risk AI systems should perform consistently throughout their lifecycle and meet an appropriate level of accuracy, robustness and cybers…
• Recital 75Technical robustness is a key requirement for high-risk AI systems. They should be resilient in relation to harmful or otherwise undesirable…
• Recital 76Cybersecurity plays a crucial role in ensuring that AI systems are resilient against attempts to alter their use, behaviour, performance or …
• Recital 77Without prejudice to the requirements related to robustness and accuracy set out in this Regulation, high-risk AI systems which fall within …
• Recital 78The conformity assessment procedure provided by this Regulation should apply in relation to the essential cybersecurity requirements of a pr…
• Recital 79It is appropriate that a specific natural or legal person, defined as the provider, takes responsibility for the placing on the market or th…
• Recital 80As signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Union and the Member States are legally obli…
• Recital 81The provider should establish a sound quality management system, ensure the accomplishment of the required conformity assessment procedure, …
• Recital 82To enable enforcement of this Regulation and create a level playing field for operators, and, taking into account the different forms of mak…
• Recital 83In light of the nature and complexity of the value chain for AI systems and in line with the New Legislative Framework, it is essential to e…
• Recital 84To ensure legal certainty, it is necessary to clarify that, under certain specific conditions, any distributor, importer, deployer or other …
• Recital 85General-purpose AI systems may be used as high-risk AI systems by themselves or be components of other high-risk AI systems. Therefore, due …
• Recital 86Where, under the conditions laid down in this Regulation, the provider that initially placed the AI system on the market or put it into serv…
• Recital 87In addition, where a high-risk AI system that is a safety component of a product which falls within the scope of Union harmonisation legisla…
• Recital 88Along the AI value chain multiple parties often supply AI systems, tools and services but also components or processes that are incorporated…
• Recital 89Third parties making accessible to the public tools, services, processes, or AI components other than general-purpose AI models, should not …
• Recital 90The Commission could develop and recommend voluntary model contractual terms between providers of high-risk AI systems and third parties tha…
• Recital 91Given the nature of AI systems and the risks to safety and fundamental rights possibly associated with their use, including as regards the n…
• Recital 92This Regulation is without prejudice to obligations for employers to inform or to inform and consult workers or their representatives under …
• Recital 93Whilst risks related to AI systems can result from the way such systems are designed, risks can as well stem from how such AI systems are us…
• Recital 94Any processing of biometric data involved in the use of AI systems for biometric identification for the purpose of law enforcement needs to …
• Recital 95Without prejudice to applicable Union law, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Directive (EU) 2016/680, considering the intrusive nat…
• Recital 96In order to efficiently ensure that fundamental rights are protected, deployers of high-risk AI systems that are bodies governed by public l…
• Recital 97The notion of general-purpose AI models should be clearly defined and set apart from the notion of AI systems to enable legal certainty. The…
• Recital 98Whereas the generality of a model could, inter alia, also be determined by a number of parameters, models with at least a billion of paramet…
• Recital 99Large generative AI models are a typical example for a general-purpose AI model, given that they allow for flexible generation of content, s…
• Recital 100When a general-purpose AI model is integrated into or forms part of an AI system, this system should be considered to be general-purpose AI …
• Recital 101Providers of general-purpose AI models have a particular role and responsibility along the AI value chain, as the models they provide may fo…
• Recital 102Software and data, including models, released under a free and open-source licence that allows them to be openly shared and where users can …
• Recital 103Free and open-source AI components covers the software and data, including models and general-purpose AI models, tools, services or processe…
• Recital 104The providers of general-purpose AI models that are released under a free and open-source licence, and whose parameters, including the weigh…
• Recital 105General-purpose AI models, in particular large generative AI models, capable of generating text, images, and other content, present unique i…
• Recital 106Providers that place general-purpose AI models on the Union market should ensure compliance with the relevant obligations in this Regulation…
• Recital 107In order to increase transparency on the data that is used in the pre-training and training of general-purpose AI models, including text and…
• Recital 108With regard to the obligations imposed on providers of general-purpose AI models to put in place a policy to comply with Union copyright law…
• Recital 109Compliance with the obligations applicable to the providers of general-purpose AI models should be commensurate and proportionate to the typ…
• Recital 110General-purpose AI models could pose systemic risks which include, but are not limited to, any actual or reasonably foreseeable negative eff…
• Recital 111It is appropriate to establish a methodology for the classification of general-purpose AI models as general-purpose AI model with systemic r…
• Recital 112It is also necessary to clarify a procedure for the classification of a general-purpose AI model with systemic risks. A general-purpose AI m…
• Recital 113If the Commission becomes aware of the fact that a general-purpose AI model meets the requirements to classify as a general-purpose AI model…
• Recital 114The providers of general-purpose AI models presenting systemic risks should be subject, in addition to the obligations provided for provider…
• Recital 115Providers of general-purpose AI models with systemic risks should assess and mitigate possible systemic risks. If, despite efforts to identi…
• Recital 116The AI Office should encourage and facilitate the drawing up, review and adaptation of codes of practice, taking into account international …
• Recital 117The codes of practice should represent a central tool for the proper compliance with the obligations provided for under this Regulation for …
• Recital 118This Regulation regulates AI systems and AI models by imposing certain requirements and obligations for relevant market actors that are plac…
• Recital 119Considering the quick pace of innovation and the technological evolution of digital services in scope of different instruments of Union law …
• Recital 120Furthermore, obligations placed on providers and deployers of certain AI systems in this Regulation to enable the detection and disclosure t…
• Recital 121Standardisation should play a key role to provide technical solutions to providers to ensure compliance with this Regulation, in line with t…
• Recital 122It is appropriate that, without prejudice to the use of harmonised standards and common specifications, providers of a high-risk AI system t…
• Recital 123In order to ensure a high level of trustworthiness of high-risk AI systems, those systems should be subject to a conformity assessment prior…
• Recital 124It is appropriate that, in order to minimise the burden on operators and avoid any possible duplication, for high-risk AI systems related to…
• Recital 125Given the complexity of high-risk AI systems and the risks that are associated with them, it is important to develop an adequate conformity …
• Recital 126In order to carry out third-party conformity assessments when so required, notified bodies should be notified under this Regulation by the n…
• Recital 127In line with Union commitments under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, it is adequate to facilitate the…
• Recital 128In line with the commonly established notion of substantial modification for products regulated by Union harmonisation legislation, it is ap…
• Recital 129High-risk AI systems should bear the CE marking to indicate their conformity with this Regulation so that they can move freely within the in…
• Recital 130Under certain conditions, rapid availability of innovative technologies may be crucial for health and safety of persons, the protection of t…
• Recital 131In order to facilitate the work of the Commission and the Member States in the AI field as well as to increase the transparency towards the …
• Recital 132Certain AI systems intended to interact with natural persons or to generate content may pose specific risks of impersonation or deception ir…
• Recital 133A variety of AI systems can generate large quantities of synthetic content that becomes increasingly hard for humans to distinguish from hum…
• Recital 134Further to the technical solutions employed by the providers of the AI system, deployers who use an AI system to generate or manipulate imag…
• Recital 135Without prejudice to the mandatory nature and full applicability of the transparency obligations, the Commission may also encourage and faci…
• Recital 136The obligations placed on providers and deployers of certain AI systems in this Regulation to enable the detection and disclosure that the o…
• Recital 137Compliance with the transparency obligations for the AI systems covered by this Regulation should not be interpreted as indicating that the …
• Recital 138AI is a rapidly developing family of technologies that requires regulatory oversight and a safe and controlled space for experimentation, wh…
• Recital 139The objectives of the AI regulatory sandboxes should be to foster AI innovation by establishing a controlled experimentation and testing env…
• Recital 140This Regulation should provide the legal basis for the providers and prospective providers in the AI regulatory sandbox to use personal data…
• Recital 141In order to accelerate the process of development and the placing on the market of the high-risk AI systems listed in an annex to this Regul…
• Recital 142To ensure that AI leads to socially and environmentally beneficial outcomes, Member States are encouraged to support and promote research an…
• Recital 143In order to promote and protect innovation, it is important that the interests of SMEs, including start-ups, that are providers or deployers…
• Recital 144In order to promote and protect innovation, the AI-on-demand platform, all relevant Union funding programmes and projects, such as Digital E…
• Recital 145In order to minimise the risks to implementation resulting from lack of knowledge and expertise in the market as well as to facilitate compl…
• Recital 146Moreover, in light of the very small size of some operators and in order to ensure proportionality regarding costs of innovation, it is appr…
• Recital 147It is appropriate that the Commission facilitates, to the extent possible, access to testing and experimentation facilities to bodies, group…
• Recital 148This Regulation should establish a governance framework that both allows to coordinate and support the application of this Regulation at nat…
• Recital 149In order to facilitate a smooth, effective and harmonised implementation of this Regulation a Board should be established. The Board should …
• Recital 150With a view to ensuring the involvement of stakeholders in the implementation and application of this Regulation, an advisory forum should b…
• Recital 151To support the implementation and enforcement of this Regulation, in particular the monitoring activities of the AI Office as regards genera…
• Recital 152In order to support adequate enforcement as regards AI systems and reinforce the capacities of the Member States, Union AI testing support s…
• Recital 153Member States hold a key role in the application and enforcement of this Regulation. In that respect, each Member State should designate at …
• Recital 154The national competent authorities should exercise their powers independently, impartially and without bias, so as to safeguard the principl…
• Recital 155In order to ensure that providers of high-risk AI systems can take into account the experience on the use of high-risk AI systems for improv…
• Recital 156In order to ensure an appropriate and effective enforcement of the requirements and obligations set out by this Regulation, which is Union h…
• Recital 157This Regulation is without prejudice to the competences, tasks, powers and independence of relevant national public authorities or bodies wh…
• Recital 158Union financial services law includes internal governance and risk-management rules and requirements which are applicable to regulated finan…
• Recital 159Each market surveillance authority for high-risk AI systems in the area of biometrics, as listed in an annex to this Regulation insofar as t…
• Recital 160The market surveillance authorities and the Commission should be able to propose joint activities, including joint investigations, to be con…
• Recital 161It is necessary to clarify the responsibilities and competences at Union and national level as regards AI systems that are built on general-…
• Recital 162To make best use of the centralised Union expertise and synergies at Union level, the powers of supervision and enforcement of the obligatio…
• Recital 163With a view to complementing the governance systems for general-purpose AI models, the scientific panel should support the monitoring activi…
• Recital 164The AI Office should be able to take the necessary actions to monitor the effective implementation of and compliance with the obligations fo…
• Recital 165The development of AI systems other than high-risk AI systems in accordance with the requirements of this Regulation may lead to a larger up…
• Recital 166It is important that AI systems related to products that are not high-risk in accordance with this Regulation and thus are not required to c…
• Recital 167In order to ensure trustful and constructive cooperation of competent authorities on Union and national level, all parties involved in the a…
• Recital 168Compliance with this Regulation should be enforceable by means of the imposition of penalties and other enforcement measures. Member States …
• Recital 169Compliance with the obligations on providers of general-purpose AI models imposed under this Regulation should be enforceable, inter alia, b…
• Recital 170Union and national law already provide effective remedies to natural and legal persons whose rights and freedoms are adversely affected by t…
• Recital 171Affected persons should have the right to obtain an explanation where a deployer’s decision is based mainly upon the output from certain hig…
• Recital 172Persons acting as whistleblowers on the infringements of this Regulation should be protected under the Union law. Directive (EU) 2019/1937 o…
• Recital 173In order to ensure that the regulatory framework can be adapted where necessary, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU…
• Recital 174Given the rapid technological developments and the technical expertise required to effectively apply this Regulation, the Commission should …
• Recital 175In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. …
• Recital 176Since the objective of this Regulation, namely to improve the functioning of the internal market and to promote the uptake of human centric …
• Recital 177In order to ensure legal certainty, ensure an appropriate adaptation period for operators and avoid disruption to the market, including by e…
• Recital 178Providers of high-risk AI systems are encouraged to start to comply, on a voluntary basis, with the relevant obligations of this Regulation …
• Recital 179This Regulation should apply from. However, taking into account the unacceptable risk associated with the use of AI in certain ways, the pro…
• Recital 180The European Data Protection Supervisor and the European Data Protection Board were consulted in accordance with Article 42(1) and (2) of Re…

Source: EUR-Lex CELEX 32024R1689