AI disclosure for marketing texts since 2 August 2026
The duty is narrower than the headlines suggest and the exemption is the important half. Article 50 requires deployers to disclose that a text was artificially generated when it is published to inform the public on matters of public interest, and the duty does not apply where the content underwent human review or editorial control and a person holds editorial responsibility. Ordinary product copy is not the target, published opinion is.
What the article actually covers
Two things are commonly mixed up. Paragraph 2 asks providers of generative systems to mark synthetic output in a machine readable format and make it detectable as artificially generated, and in practice that is aimed at audio, image and video. Paragraph 4, second subparagraph, is the one that reaches a business publishing text: deployers must disclose that the text has been artificially generated or manipulated when it is published to inform the public on matters of public interest.
The qualifier carries the weight. A page describing your own services, a price list, an offer, a booking confirmation: none of that is published to inform the public on a matter of public interest. A commentary on a new law, a market report, an advice article that presents itself as information, that is where the sentence bites.
The dates, paragraphs and the exemption, counted
1 article, 2 relevant paragraphs, 1 exemption and 1 date. Article 50 is the transparency article, the text duty sits in paragraph 4, second subparagraph, and the obligations apply from 2 August 2026 under Article 113.
The exemption is written out and is not a loophole to be argued for: the disclosure duty does not apply where the AI generated content has undergone a process of human review or editorial control and where a natural or legal person holds editorial responsibility for the publication. There is a second exemption for law enforcement purposes that will not concern a shop or a studio.
Practically that turns a legal question into a workflow question. If a named person reads, corrects and signs off the text before it goes live, the condition is met and the label is not required. If nobody does, the label is required. That is a decision about one step in your publishing process, not about your choice of tools.
| Type of page | Published to inform on public interest | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|
| Service description, prices, offer | No | Not required |
| Booking confirmation, contact page | No | Not required |
| Advice article, guide, market report | Yes, typically | Required unless reviewed |
| Commentary on law or policy | Yes | Required unless reviewed |
| Any of the above, reviewed and signed off | Either | Not required, exemption applies |
How to place the notice when you need one
Put it where the text is, not in a policy nobody opens. One sentence at the foot of the article stating that the text was produced with AI support and who reviewed it does the job, and it doubles as the editorial responsibility record the exemption asks about.
Keep it truthful and specific. A blanket notice on every page of a site whose pages were written by hand devalues the notice and invites the question of what else is approximate.
Questions and answers
Does every AI assisted sentence need a label?
When did this start applying?
Is a machine readable mark required for text?
What does editorial control mean in practice?
Sources
- EU AI Act, Article 50, transparency obligations The text disclosure duty, the machine readable marking and the exemption
- EU AI Act, Article 113, entry into application The 2 August 2026 date for the transparency obligations
