The EU AI Act’s Transparency Rules: A Practical Guide to Article 50 | EU Artific

Article 50 of the EU AI Act introduces transparency requirements for four broad situations: AI systems that interact directly with people, systems that generate synthetic content, emotion-recognition or biometric-categorization systems, and AI used to create deepfakes or certain text intended to inform the public on matters of public interest. These rules are not limited to systems classified as high-risk.

Providers of chatbots and other interactive AI systems must ensure users are informed that they are dealing with AI. Providers of generative systems must also make synthetic outputs machine-readable and detectable as AI-generated, although the technical standards are still being finalized.

For publishers, the rules are more specific. Deepfakes generally require disclosure, while AI-generated text intended to inform the public on matters of public interest must also be disclosed unless it has undergone substantive human review and a person or organization assumes editorial responsibility for publication.

The transparency obligations apply from August 2, 2026, with some machine-readable marking requirements for generative AI systems already on the market receiving additional time under the May 2026 AI Omnibus provisional agreement.

Footnote

1. Future of Life Institute, The EU AI Act’s Transparency Rules: A Practical Guide to Article 50, May 14, 2026: https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/transparency-rules-article-50/