EU AI Act: AI Literacy, Part 2, What You Are Entitled to Know at Work

Article 4 of the EU AI Act is about you and is not addressed to you. Your employer carries the duty. You cannot be in breach of it, and nobody can certify you, because there is no certificate to issue.

So this episode is not about your obligations. It is about your three rights, which sit in other articles and are considerably more concrete.

One: you have to be told when you are dealing with a machine rather than a person, unless that is already obvious to a reasonably well-informed and observant person. Two: before a high-risk AI system starts being used on you at work, you and your representatives have to be informed, beforehand, not in the release notes. Three: if you have been told you are the human in the loop, the law says you must be given competence, training and authority. Sam explains why the third word is the one that is usually missing.

There is also a detour into a law that predates the AI Act by six years. When a system is simply wrong about you, Article 22 of the General Data Protection Regulation is often the stronger instrument.

Then the practical part: four things worth knowing that are not technical, four questions you can ask your employer without starting a war, and why the colleague who uses AI constantly may be the most exposed person in the building rather than the safest.

Two hosts, eighteen minutes, every article number checked so you can check us.

DISCLOSURE: Maya and Sam are AI-generated voices. They are not real people and this is not a recording of a conversation that took place. The music is also generated. The script was written and edited by a human, Kris Cordier, who carries editorial responsibility for its content.

This episode is information, not legal advice. If something is happening to you right now that feels serious, talk to your union or a qualified adviser.

CHAPTERS

0:00 These are AI voices, and why that matters in this episode

1:31 Welcome to Project Cognivora

2:09 Article 4 is about you, but the duty is your employer's

4:00 Right one: being told you are talking to a machine

5:23 Right two: being told before it is used on you

7:05 When the system is wrong about you, Article 22 GDPR

9:34 Right three: being the human in the loop

11:02 Four things worth knowing, none of them technical

12:17 Why the heaviest user is often the most exposed

13:16 Four questions you can ask without starting a war

14:55 Back to the call scoring, three steps in order

16:37 Ninety seconds: what an employee takes away

17:41 Send it to the colleague who is now the human in the loop

SOURCES

Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, full text: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/oj

Article 4, AI literacy, on the Commission's AI Act Service Desk: https://ai-act-service-desk.ec.europa.eu/en/ai-act/article-4

The AI Omnibus enters into force, European Commission: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/ai-omnibus-enters-force

Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj

Project Cognivora: https://www.project-cognivora.com