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ARTICLE · 03 AUGUST 2026

Is It A Bot? EU AI Act Transparency Rules Take Effect 2 August 2026

Travers Smith LLP
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From 2 August 2026, the EU AI Act requires businesses to disclose when people are interacting with AI systems, mark synthetic content for detection, label deepfakes, and inform individuals...

United KingdomPrivacy
James Longster
James Longster
Louisa Chambers
Louisa Chambers
Helen Reddish
Helen Reddish
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A chatbot that sounds human, an image generator that produces photorealistic content, a voice cloning tool - they all make it harder to distinguish machine-produced content from human-created work. The risks of sophisticated generative and interactive AI - misinformation, manipulation at scale, impersonation, and fraud - are growing. From 2 August 2026, the EU AI Act requires businesses to be open about AI: to tell people when they are talking to a machine, mark synthetic content so its origin can be detected, label deepfakes, and warn individuals when AI is analysing their emotions or categorising them biometrically.  This briefing explains how the transparency obligations fall on providers and deployers of AI.

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