The EU AI regulation wants to create uniform rules for the use of artificial intelligence in Europe. This also includes labeling, which is intended to make it more transparent which content was created or changed with the help of AI. From August 2026, stricter regulations for AI labeling requirements will apply. You should then pay attention to that.
Artificial intelligence is being used more and more frequently in everyday life and texts, images and videos can often hardly be distinguished from human-created content. But as usage grows, so do the risks, such as disinformation or deceptively real deepfakes.
This is exactly where the EU is starting with its AI regulation. From August onwards, strict labeling requirements for AI content will apply. These are intended to ensure more transparency and make companies and content creators more responsible.
Labeling requirement for AI: What will change in the EU from August 2026
From August 2026, stricter requirements will apply in the EU for the use of artificial intelligence and the publication of AI-generated content. With the AI Regulation, the European Union has created uniform rules that are intended to ensure more transparency in the handling of AI.
On the one hand, deepfakes must be labeled. These can be AI-generated or AI-modified images, videos or audio files that look or sound deceptively real. According to the European Commission, if these resemble “existing people, objects, places, entities or events” and could therefore “falsely appear to a person as authentic or truthful,” they must be labeled in the future.
This also applies to AI-generated or manipulated text “published to inform the public on matters of public interest.” Anyone who makes AI content public and uses it for business, journalistic, political or other purposes will have to label it in the future.
Transparency requirements are also becoming stricter for chatbots. In the future, companies will have to inform users when they interact with an AI system if it is not already obvious. This is intended to prevent people from mistaking an AI for a real person, for example in customer service or digital assistants.
How will AI content have to be labeled in the future?
With the labeling requirement, the EU wants to enable users to clearly identify AI-generated or modified content and distinguish it from authentic content. The EU provides three different icons for this purpose.
The basic symbol consists of a black circle with AI written inside it. This is intended to be used when AI was involved in the creation of images, videos, audios or text.
The second symbol refers to fully AI-generated content and shows the words “AI generated”. This content is generated entirely by AI and contains no human-created elements or human editorial control – apart from the content creation prompts.
The third icon refers to partially AI-modified content and shows the words “AI modified”. This is intended to mark content that was partly created by humans but then edited by AI.
What is exempt from the labeling requirement?
However, the labeling requirement will not apply to all AI-generated content in the future. If you create content with AI for private or internal use, you do not have to label it.
This also applies to unrealistic content where you can tell at first glance that it is obviously an edited photo, for example. Even simple corrections that you let AI make do not need to be marked. This includes, for example, checking the spelling and grammar of texts.
The European Commission also expressly states that the labeling requirement applies to texts “that have not been subject to human review or editorial control”. If editorial responsibility for the content is assumed by a legal or natural person, no labeling is required.
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