AI and the Human Being – The Human in the Loop and AI Literacy within the AI Act

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has arrived in the heart of society, bringing both transformative potential and challenges. This paper explores how humans and AI can work together. To do so, this paper examines the roles and protections aff orded to humans under the AI Act (AIA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). AI is often portrayed as a tool to support overburdened staff and off er better and/or more accessible services for individuals. Howe ver, AI can also be unhelpful, or in some cases, even harmful. This paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on the implications of AI-driven interventions. We support the idea of the incorporation of a priori evaluations as a prerequisite for any intervention that incorporates AI. This involves identifying if – and to what extent – the use of AI makes sense in the fi rst place, followed by a clear labelling of any AI elements. We support the inclusion of obligatory and meaningful human oversight, combined with AI literacy where feasible.