Rules / European Union

Commission Guidelines on prohibited AI practices and on the definition of an AI system under the AI Act

In forceGuidelineNon-binding

Two non-binding Commission guidelines explaining, with examples, the AI practices banned under Article 5 (e.g., harmful manipulation, social scoring, workplace emotion recognition, real-time remote biometric identification) and how to decide whether software is an 'AI system' within the Act's scope. They address providers, deployers and market surveillance authorities.

Why it matters

These are the reference texts regulators use to judge whether a product is in scope and whether a use is banned.

What it requires

Prohibited usesRisk classification
SourceEuropean Commission - Shaping Europe's digital future: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/commission-publishes-guidelines-prohibited-artificial-intelligence-ai-practices-defined-ai-actSecondary: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/commission-publishes-guidelines-ai-system-definition-facilitate-first-ai-acts-rules-application Checked against the source on 4 Oct 2026. Prohibited-practices guidelines published 4 Feb 2025; AI-system definition guidelines 6 Feb 2025.

Cite this record

Commission Guidelines on prohibited AI practices and on the definition of an AI system under the AI Act. European Commission. Status: In force. wheresthe.ai, https://wheresthe.ai/rule/eu-guidelines-prohibited-practices-ai-definition-2025/ (verified 4 Oct 2026).

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