Annex III AI Act lists eight broad areas that are particularly susceptible to risks arising in relation to such systems. Those areas are the following: 1. Biometrics; 2. Critical infrastructure; 3. Education and vocational training; 4. Employment, workers’ management and access to self-employment; 5. Access to and enjoyment of essential private services and essential public services and benefits; 6. Law enforcement; 7. Migration, asylum and border control management; 8. Administration of justice and democratic processes.
In line with the risk-based approach of the AI Act, only a limited set of AI systemuse cases falling within those broad areas are classified as high-risk. Those use cases are explicitly listed for each area in Annex III. That list of use casesis exhaustive and can only be modified through the adoption of delegated acts, provided the conditions of Article 7(1) AI Act are fulfilled. This ensures that the rules and safeguards for the classification of AI systems as high-risk under Article 6(2) AI Act are targeted and proportionate, while avoiding unnecessary regulatory burden s for the majority of AI systems falling within the areas listed in Annex III.
Article 6(3) AI Act provides a mechanism whereby AI systems that fall within one of the use cases listed in Annex III, but which do not pose significant risk s of harm are exempted from high-risk classification (‘the filter mechanism’). The filter mechanism is assessed in Section 2.7. below.
Due to the direct and harmonised effects of the AI Act for the placement on the market, putting into service, and use of high-risk AI systems in the Union, the classification of an AI system as high-risk under Article 6(2) will have a uniform effect throughout all Member States. This is without prejudice to national prerogatives in certain areas (e.g., education under Article 165 TFEU).
Classifying AI systems as high-risk under Article 6(2) AI Act does not mean that the ir use is prohibited. Rather, those systems are subject to appropriate requirements to ensure that they perform accurately and as intended, and that risks to health, safety and fundamental rights are properly assessed and mitigated . This approach enables the creation of a single market for trustworthy AI systems in the Union and promotes trust and AI uptake in sensitive areas, where the identified high-risk use cases can lead to serious consequences.