Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 July 2026
944. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment whether he will legislate to require commercial images that have materially altered a person’s face or body, or that have been generated using artificial intelligence, to be clearly labelled. [55277/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI thank the Deputy for raising this important issue.
As artificial intelligence technologies become more sophisticated and widely available, it is important that citizens can distinguish between authentic content and content that has been generated or materially manipulated using AI. Transparency in this area is important in maintaining public trust, supporting informed decision-making and reducing the risks associated with deception, misinformation and impersonation.
The EU Artificial Intelligence Act already provides transparency obligations in respect of AI-generated and AI-manipulated content through Article 50. These provisions apply from 2 August 2026 and require providers of certain AI systems generating synthetic image, audio, video or text content to ensure that such content is marked in a machine-readable format and is detectable as artificially generated or manipulated. The Act also requires deployers of AI systems generating or manipulating deepfake content to disclose that the content has been artificially generated or manipulated, subject to certain limited exceptions. Existing AI systems placed on the market before 2 August 2026 benefit from a transitional period, brought in by the Digital Omnibus on AI, until 2 December 2026 to comply with the Article 50(2) marking requirements.
The European Commission has stated that these transparency obligations are intended to reduce the risks of deception, impersonation, misinformation and consumer deception, while fostering trust and integrity in the information ecosystem. The Commission has also developed guidance and a Code of Practice to support compliance with these obligations.
The Code of Practice on the marking and labelling of AI-generated content is intended to assist providers and deployers of generative AI systems in complying with the transparency obligations set out in Article 50 of the AI Act.
