Why Europe is banning health-threatening AI tech while the US remains unregulated

Everyone’s worried AI will take their job.Europe is more concerned it could take a toll on our health.While the US still lacks comprehensive federal rules governing artificial intelligence, the European Union is rolling out sweeping regulations this week designed to protect people from AI systems that manipulate, exploit or harm users.The EU Artificial Intelligence Act — the world’s first comprehensive AI law — has been phased in since 2024.

And a major provision took effect yesterday, August 2, applying rules to high-risk AI systems used in regulated products such as medical devices, machinery and toys.The law classifies AI into four risk categories — unacceptable risk, high risk, limited risk and minimal risk — with protecting people’s health and well-being central to its approach.“The AI Act ensures that Europeans can trust what AI has to offer,” the European Commission said on its website.“While most AI systems pose limited to no risk and can contribute to solving many societal challenges, certain AI systems create risks that we must address to avoid undesirable outcomes.”Among the practices now effectively banned are AI systems that use manipulation, deception or exploitation to influence people’s behavior in ways that could cause significant harm.That includes AI that deploys subliminal or deliberately deceptive techniques that undermine a person’s autonomy, as well as systems that exploit vulnerabilities linked to age, disability or socioeconomic status.The EU says those prohibitions are intended to prevent people from being reduced to “mere tools for achieving certain ends” and to better protect those most susceptible to manipulation.But what does that harm actually look like?Some experts say the dangers aren’t always obvious.

Subliminal cues can activate the body’s stress response before the conscious mind even processes what’s happening.“I witnessed this same cortisol and adrenaline pathway firing in a patient’s bo...