Guide: AI Act Check On What Applies Now, Later or Not at All
A simple planning check for separating current AI Act priorities from later preparation tracks without turning the entire organisation into a legal flowchart.
What Applies Now, Later or Not at All?
A simple planning check for separating current AI Act priorities from later preparation tracks without turning the entire organisation into a legal flowchart.
The date is not the first question; the system, use case and your role should come first.
What this Guide helps with
Use it when policy discussions are mixing current transparency/literacy actions, future high-risk preparation and systems that may sit outside those tracks.
Keep it small
Pick one AI system or use case, not the whole enterprise in one sitting.
The Pattern behind this Guide
AI Act Day-One: this public Pattern quiz leads into this Guide.
The check
Name the tool, feature, agent or workflow and what it actually does.
Record whether the organisation is acting as deployer, provider or another relevant role for that system.
Note the business purpose, people affected and whether the use may connect to transparency, high-risk or other AI Act duties.
Use the current dates as a planning aid: current 2026 priorities, relevant 2027 high-risk track or 2028 product track.
Inventory, literacy, disclosure, vendor evidence, prohibited-use screening, documentation or another concrete next step.
Assign a role and record what evidence proves the action happened.
Use this small log
| AI system / use | Our role | Track | Action now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer chatbot | Deployer | Current 2026 review | Check interaction transparency and evidence |
| Recruitment ranking tool | Deployer | Current inventory + later high-risk prep | Classify use; start evidence and oversight planning |
| Embedded product AI | Provider / product role | Product track may apply later | Map product purpose and downstream use |
Where this commonly hides
Quick examples
| What you see | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| “Everything is due now.” | Which duty, system and role are we actually talking about? |
| “Nothing until 2027.” | Which current transparency, literacy or prohibited-use actions already apply? |
| “The vendor is compliant.” | What evidence and responsibility still sit with us? |
| “We have an AI policy.” | Can we map that policy to named systems, owners and actions? |
The Satire
The AI Act arrived with several clocks but organisation may have answered with one recurring calendar invite.
Pattern quiz
The AI Act Is Live. What Actually Applies to You Today?
Take the quick quiz that leads into this Guide.
More Patterns
Keep spotting what returns.
Explore more quiz-led workplace Patterns.
More Guides
Follow the work.
Use another lightweight Guide on one real workflow.
Want the deeper version when it lands?
The deeper AI Act Day-One Insight and future toolkit are coming later. Subscribe for the next Pattern drop and we will let you know when they land.
Planning aid only, not legal advice. Verify official EU guidance and applicability for the specific system, role, use case and jurisdiction before acting.
