AI Transparency Obligation (Art. 50)

The AI transparency obligation is the core rule for limited-risk AI systems in the EU AI Act. Under Article 50, businesses must disclose when people interact with an AI, such as a chatbot, and mark AI-generated content as such. These obligations apply from 2 August 2026.

What is the AI transparency obligation?

The AI transparency obligation is the heart of the rules for limited-risk AI in the EU AI Act. It sits in Article 50 and follows a simple idea: nobody should talk to a machine without noticing, or take an AI-generated piece of content for genuine. Transparency instead of deception.

A note for context: this text is orientation, not legal advice. For a binding review of your case, turn to a lawyer.

What Article 50 requires

The article bundles several transparency obligations. For businesses with customer communication, two are especially important:

• Paragraph 1, interaction with AI. If you deploy an AI chatbot or a comparable system, you must inform the people concerned. That is the AI disclosure.
• Paragraph 4, AI content. Deepfakes must be labelled. AI-generated text on matters of public interest must be marked when it is published without human editorial control.

Transparency obligation versus high-risk obligations

Important: the transparency obligation is not the same as the strict requirements for high-risk AI systems. A customer-service bot usually falls under "limited risk" and mainly has to be disclosed. High-risk applications, such as in candidate selection or credit scoring, carry additional, further-reaching obligations.

What this means in practice

For most SMEs, the transparency obligation is the only AI Act requirement that directly affects their use of AI in customer contact. The good news: it can be met with manageable effort. A clearly visible note at the start of the conversation is usually enough, provided the platform supports it.

Meeting the transparency obligation with SendSeven

SendSeven combines WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, Instagram, Messenger, email, live chat and browser push in one inbox. The AI assistant has a configurable AI disclosure: an adaptable notice text that informs about the use of AI and mentions handover to a member of the team. That puts Article 50(1) in place directly, without any in-house development. It is configured through the AI bots. GDPR-compliant, Made in Germany, Meta Business Partner. Try it free for 14 days, no credit card. That gets you well positioned for the EU AI Act.