Prohibition of emotion recognition in the workplace and education settings

The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) has published the sixth article in a series exploring the prohibited practices set out in the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). 

The sixth article focuses on the prohibition on emotion recognition in the workplace and educational institutions, as outlined in Article 5(1)(f) and further explored in the European Commission’s Guidelines. This analysis confirms that while the AI Act targets these specific environments due to the power imbalances and asymmetric relationships that leave workers and students vulnerable, not all emotion recognition systems are banned. Systems used outside these contexts are generally classified as high-risk, while those deployed for medical or safety purposes within the workplace or education remain permitted.

Importantly, FPF highlight that the prohibition applies only to the inference of emotions. Although the broader definition of emotion recognition systems in Article 3(39) includes the inference of intentions, this specific activity appears to be excluded from the ban. 

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