Organisations doing business in the European Union need to think about how they will comply with the EU Artificial Intelligence Act. Content design can help.
There are very few businesses, whether or not they’re registered in an EU member state, who won’t be affected by the Act.
Fines for non-compliance with the Act are up to €35 million (or 7% of last year's profits, if higher).
And companies must comply with the Act if their products and services are available to buy in the EU, or if companies in the EU use what their AI product produces.
Article 50 of the EU AI Act is about ‘Transparency Obligations for Providers and Deployers of Certain AI Systems’. It says:
“Providers shall ensure that AI systems intended to interact directly with natural persons are designed and developed in such a way that the natural persons concerned are informed that they are interacting with an AI system, unless this is obvious from the point of view of a natural person who is reasonably well-informed, observant and circumspect, taking into account the circumstances and the context of use."
The important point in that paragraph is that people are informed – that they really understand – they are interacting with AI.
There’s a big difference between:
From a content design perspective, information that people can’t intuitively find and understand may as well not exist.
Hiding information in language soup is called a deceptive pattern.
Information that is hidden doesn’t just inconvenience people – it disproportionately affects people who are already at a disadvantage, and prevents people from getting services they need.
It is a drain on communities and the environment. And increasingly, companies around the world are being prosecuted for deceptive patterns.
This is how a content designer will help your business comply with Article 50, and other obligations under the Act, for less than the cost of a €35 million fine.
We work with researchers to understand exactly what information people need while they use your service.
We also find out what information people don’t need.
That way, we can prioritise what is useful, and make it findable by removing unnecessary information.
We also work with researchers, service designers and product designers to know exactly what information people need at each point in their journey.
We design content to meet precisely those needs, at the right time.
That way, people don’t have to remember things from several screens ago, or interrupt their journey to find information.
We have years of experience explaining complex concepts in simple language.
The more complex the concept, and the more expert the audience, the simpler it has to be.
But we know we always have more to learn.
We research what words and structures people understand and expect, based on what they’re doing when they access the service, the places they live, their abilities, and the languages they speak.
A word, phrase or tone of voice might be helpful in one situation, but damage trust in a different situation. Context is important.
That’s because trust is based on more than words. It is also based on where the words come from, and who they are directed to. And on what is happening in the moment.
Before the design is available to the public, we work with researchers and other designers to test different versions with real, invested people.
After it goes live, we analyse live data and use that to understand what is and isn’t working.
If something isn’t working, we improve it.
The EU AI Act is intended to make sure that service users are fully informed and able to make choices based on that information.
You can spend a lot of time trying to wriggle out of that or you can embrace it and prioritise the needs of your users.
The added benefits are that, with content design, and user-centred design more generally, your service will also be more accessible, more inclusive, and more sustainable.
It’s about doing the right thing.