European Commission publishes two sets of AI guidelines

February 2025

The European Commission has recently published the guidelines on prohibited artificial intelligence (AI) practices, as defined by the AI Act, as well as guidelines on AI system definition to facilitate the first AI Act’s rules application.

The guidelines on prohibited AI practices provide an overview of AI practices that are deemed unacceptable due to their potential risks to European values and fundamental rights.

The AI Act, which aims to promote innovation while ensuring high levels of health, safety, and fundamental rights protection, classifies AI systems into different risk categories, including prohibited, high-risk, and those subject to transparency obligations. The guidelines specifically address practices such as harmful manipulation, social scoring, and real-time remote biometric identification, among others.

The guidelines on AI system definition explain the practical application of the legal concept, as anchored in the AI Act. By issuing guidelines on the AI system definition, the Commission aims to assist providers and other relevant persons in determining whether a software system constitutes an AI system to facilitate the effective application of the rules. 

As of 2 February 2025, the first rules under the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) have started to apply. These include the AI system definition, AI literacy, and a very limited number of prohibited AI use cases that pose unacceptable risks in the EU, as outlined in the AI Act.

Read more on first set of guidelines here

Read more on second set of guidelines here