Sector

AI literacy training for the public sector and education.

Generative tools are in administration, teaching and citizen-facing communication. Article 4 asks you to take proportionate measures that support AI literacy among the people using them, and two Annex III categories, public benefits and education, sit close to daily work.

Lecture hall with rows of seats

Where AI is already in the work

  • Drafting correspondence, reports and citizen-facing content with generative tools
  • Eligibility, triage and case-prioritisation features inside case management systems
  • Admissions, assessment and proctoring tools in education
  • Chatbots answering public queries
  • Transcription and summarisation of meetings and consultations

What the AI Act asks of you

Article 4 applies to every organisation whose staff use an AI system at work, and it has applied since 2 February 2025. Supervision and enforcement by national authorities started on 2 August 2026. The duty is to take measures that support the development of AI literacy among your staff and the people using AI on your behalf, calibrated to the tools in use, the people using them and the context. The Commission's Q&A is explicit that no certificate is required and that organisations can keep an internal record of training and guidance.

Annex III point 5 lists AI used by or on behalf of public authorities to evaluate eligibility for essential public assistance benefits and services as high-risk. Point 3 lists education uses: determining access or admission, evaluating learning outcomes, assessing the appropriate level of education a person will receive, and monitoring prohibited behaviour during tests. Article 5 goes further for one case and prohibits AI that infers emotions in education institutions and workplaces, except for medical or safety reasons.

Deployers that are bodies governed by public law must also complete a fundamental rights impact assessment under Article 27 before putting an Annex III system into use. Those obligations apply from 2 December 2027 under the Digital Omnibus. A system already in service before that date is brought in once its design changes significantly, and Article 111(2) gives providers and deployers of high-risk systems intended for public authorities until 2 August 2030 in any case. Article 4 applies now, and the AI Office of Ireland coordinates enforcement through existing sectoral regulators.

Which workshop fits

Public bodies and schools tend to take the half day for all staff, with the full day for the teams who administer case management or assessment features and need a policy on what may go into a tool.

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This is general information about the EU AI Act, not legal advice. Enforcement is proportionate and case by case, and your sectoral regulator may issue guidance that applies to you.

Questions from this sector.

Does Article 4 apply to a school or a public body?

Yes. Article 4 applies to every provider and deployer of AI systems, public or private. A teacher using a generative tool to draft materials, or an officer using one to draft a letter, makes the organisation a deployer.

Is AI-assisted marking or proctoring high-risk?

Annex III point 3 lists AI used to evaluate learning outcomes, to determine access or admission, to assess the appropriate level of education, and to monitor prohibited behaviour during tests as high-risk. The deployer obligations for those apply from 2 December 2027, or once the design changes significantly for a system already in service before then. Article 4 applies to the staff using them today.

What is a fundamental rights impact assessment?

Article 27 of the AI Act requires deployers that are bodies governed by public law, among others, to assess the impact on fundamental rights before using an Annex III high-risk system. It is separate from Article 4 and from the GDPR's data protection impact assessment, and we cover where it sits in the two day.

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