As the European Union’s landmark Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) comes closer to the finalization of its legislative journey with the European Parliament’s approval last month, navigating its restrictions as well as red lines gains more importance. The AI Act introduces a risk-based framework for classifying AI systems, exclusively categorizing systems as being prohibited, high-risk, and low (or minimal) risk.

Notably, the systems that are prohibited are those that are associated with an unacceptable level of risk, and, instead of imposing specific development and deployment standards to mitigate associated risks such as with high-risk systems, the AI Act opts for an outright ban of these systems. While the Act refrains from defining 'unacceptable risk,' it identifies certain AI practices as inherently unacceptable due to their potential to significantly conflict with core Union values and fundamental rights, including human dignity, freedom, equality, and privacy.