While everyone was talking about the delay to the "high-risk" AI rules, something else quietly came into force on 2 August: Article 50 of the EU AI Act. And it affects almost every Belgian SME that uses a chatbot, AI-powered customer service or AI-generated content. These obligations are no longer a matter for the future: they already apply today.
What exactly has changed?
Four obligations have applied across the EU since yesterday, without a transition period:
- Your chatbot must make it clear that it is a chatbot. Unless this is already obvious, every AI assistant must inform customers that they are interacting with AI, not a human.
- AI-generated content must be marked as such. Images, video, audio or text created using AI must be identifiable as "artificial" in a machine-readable format. This also applies to your marketing visuals or product images.
- Using emotion recognition or biometric categorisation? You must explicitly inform users.
- Publishing deepfakes? They must be clearly labelled, unless they are obviously creative or satirical works.
The fines are significant: up to €15 million or 3% of your worldwide turnover.
Why this affects SMEs, not just tech companies
You do not have to be an AI company to be affected. An online shop with a chatbot widget, a service provider using AI for customer service or a marketing agency using AI-generated images: all of these fall within the scope. And most standard tools, such as chatbot plugins and customer service bots, do not yet handle these requirements correctly by default.
What you should do this week
- Take stock. Which AI tools interact directly with your customers: chatbots, voice assistants, generated content or recommendation engines?
- Check the disclosure. Does your chatbot explicitly state that it is AI at the start of every conversation?
- Check your content tools. Do you generate images, videos or text using AI for external communications? If so, they must be labelled accordingly. Ask your provider whether this happens automatically.
- Document it in writing. Do not just take the necessary steps. Keep a record of what you have done. In the event of an inspection, you need to be able to demonstrate compliance.
- Appoint one person responsible. Someone should follow this up whenever a new AI tool is introduced. Otherwise, it risks slipping to the bottom of the priority list.
And the good news: you do not have to pay for everything yourself
Since 1 February 2026, the advisory component of the Flemish SME e-wallet has largely been abolished, but training remains subsidised: 30% for small enterprises and 20% for medium-sized enterprises, up to €7,500 per year. A well-designed AI compliance programme, provided as training through a registered service provider, can therefore be largely funded through this scheme.