For Heads-of · Practitioner
Subliminal or manipulative AI techniques
An AI system deploys subliminal, manipulative, or deceptive techniques that materially distort a person's behaviour and cause significant harm.
- critical
- prohibited-practice
- manipulation
- eu-ai-act
How it happens
A system is designed, deliberately or through unchecked optimisation toward engagement or conversion, to influence someone below their level of conscious awareness or through deceptive technique, in a way that appreciably impairs their ability to make an informed decision.
Why it matters
This is one of the EU AI Act's outright bans, not a high-risk category to be managed: building or deploying a system that crosses this line is not a risk to mitigate, it is a practice to not build.
Mitigating controls
The controls that address this risk, ranked by effectiveness.
No controls mapped to this risk yet.
Framework and clause references
| Framework | Clause | Title |
|---|---|---|
| EU AI Act | Article 5(a) | Subliminal or manipulative techniques |
Related resources
The external sources behind this risk, from the Resources library.