Glossary · EU AI Act: roles
Deployer (AI Act)
Also known as: deployer, user of an AI system
Under the EU AI Act, a deployer is a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body using an AI system under its authority, except where the system is used in the course of a personal, non-professional activity.
- AI regulation
- EU
In one sentence
Under the AI Act, the deployer is anyone using an AI system under its authority in a professional context — for example an employer or a bank.
Example
A hospital using an AI system to prioritize emergency calls is its deployer and must assign trained staff to oversee it.
How it applies
- Obligations for high-risk systems: Use the system according to the instructions for use, assign human oversight to competent people, ensure relevant input data, monitor operation, keep automatically generated logs for at least six months, inform workers before using the system at the workplace and inform people who are subject to decisions.
- Impact assessment: Public bodies, providers of public services and deployers of credit-scoring and certain insurance systems must carry out a fundamental rights impact assessment before first use.
- Technical documentation: For deployers, the instructions for use are the main source of their obligations. Unclear instructions make compliant use impossible — a reason to test them with real deployers.
Compared with the USA, Canada and China
Colorado's replacement law places its duties on those who use automated decision-making technology for consequential decisions — closer to the deployer than the provider. Canada's Directive on Automated Decision-Making regulates federal institutions as deployers of their own systems.