Major Gaps in the EU Artificial Intelligence Act on Emotion Recognition
The EU Artificial Intelligence Act still lacks a consistent legal structure to manage the technical flaws and human rights risks of emotion-recognition technology. This legal gap enables the unchecked spread of such systems across the European Union.
Whether acting as a subtle tool of surveillance capitalism or as an instrument of techno-authoritarian control, emotion-recognition systems powered by artificial intelligence are quietly embedding themselves into daily life. These technologies merge affective computing with AI to detect, interpret, and respond to human emotions through analysis of facial expressions, physiological signals, vocal tone, gestures, or language use.
Today, emotion-recognition tools can already be found in fields such as healthcare, education, workplace monitoring, and law enforcement. Yet their expansion remains deeply controversial due to their limited reliability, built-in biases, and profound ethical and legal implications.
Intruding into the personal space of the mind through emotions, these AI systems leave individuals vulnerable to manipulation in their thought process and decision-making, and push the boundaries of our privacy and autonomy.
Ethical and Legal Challenges
- Questionable accuracy of detecting human emotions.
- Systematic bias that can reinforce discrimination.
- Unclear consent and privacy implications.
- Threats to mental autonomy and emotional security.
Author’s Summary
The article highlights that emotion-recognition AI in the EU grows rapidly under insufficient regulation, posing risks to privacy, fairness, and psychological autonomy.