GuidanceGuidancev1.0.0

Preparatory or decisive: general input is allowed, a specific recommendation is not

The preparatory task under Article 6(3)(d) precedes the assessment. Once the system evaluates the specific case or makes a recommendation, the exception is gone.

The official source remains authoritative. This is general information about obligations and not legal advice. See this object on the map

Address and citation

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Identifier: praxikon:eu:ai-act:guidance:guidance-high-risk-preparatory-versus-decisive
Payload hash (sha256): 5949170ab144d33aebcd0c63bafdfb84bcb158968ee437e2f0b691b532c4aada

Citation line

Praxikon, "Preparatory or decisive: general input is allowed, a specific recommendation is not", praxikon:eu:ai-act:guidance:guidance-high-risk-preparatory-versus-decisive@1.0.0, dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0 (schema 1.4.0), effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-08-14T00:00:00.000Z, sha256 5949170ab144d33aebcd0c63bafdfb84bcb158968ee437e2f0b691b532c4aada

Version: 1.0.0
Legal time (effective_at): 8 August 2026
Knowledge time (known_at): 8 August 2026
Closed on: Not closed
Topics: guidance

Review status: Placed against the official source (8 August 2026). Next check due by 4 February 2027. The check date is the knowledge date of this version; no later recheck has been recorded.

What this object links to

Every relation appears below as a path: from the source with its locator, through the conditions and exceptions of the object carrying the relation, to the consequence. A locator belongs to a statement in the data and not to a relation, so the source is the source anchor of the carrying object.

The obligation this hangs off

1 of 1 shown

The object belongs to this obligation. The source line it hangs off sits there.

Source
Official fact on this object, with its locator.
- Draft guidelines on the classification of high-risk AI systems
  Locator: Section IV.2.7.1(d), paragraphs 103 to 108
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:commission-draft-high-risk-classification-guidelines
  Open official source
Via
No condition or exception recorded on this object.
Consequence
- ObligationAnnex III: high-risk AI
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:annex-iii-high-risk

What this object is about

2 of 2 shown

The object is about this role. Undifferentiated: it does not follow that the duty rests on this role.

Source
Official fact on this object, with its locator.
- Draft guidelines on the classification of high-risk AI systems
  Locator: Section IV.2.7.1(d), paragraphs 103 to 108
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:commission-draft-high-risk-classification-guidelines
  Open official source
Via
No condition or exception recorded on this object.
Consequence
- ActorDeployer
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:actor:deployer
- ActorProvider of an AI system
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:actor:provider

What this object states

Official fact

Attributable to a named primary source, with a locator. Where they differ, the official source prevails.

According to the non-binding draft guidelines of 19 May 2026, the notion of preparatory in Article 6(3)(d) refers to tasks occurring prior to the actual assessment process, which distinguishes it from the narrow procedural task in point (a) that may also occur during the assessment as long as it is clearly delimited (paragraphs 103 and 104). The draft cites as examples from Recital 53 indexing, searching, processing and linking: tasks that add structure to the input but do not themselves provide an assessment leading to an outcome (paragraph 106). Under paragraph 107, the decisive factor is the task's role in the decision-making process and its proximity to the final human decision. Paragraph 108 adds that output feeding a human operator's assessment can only be preparatory if it is a general input or supplementary information, and that a system producing a specific recommendation or evaluation of the case plays a decisive role and is therefore not preparatory.
- Locator: Section IV.2.7.1(d), paragraphs 103 to 108praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:commission-draft-high-risk-classification-guidelinesOpen official source

Our interpretation

Our own reading. It can change without the law changing, and it is not the position of a supervisory authority.

The dividing line is workable in practice: laying out information is allowed, interpreting the case is not. A system that surfaces legal provisions, jurisdiction and internal guidance stays preparatory; the same system drawing a conclusion for this file no longer is.
- Locator: Section IV.2.7.1(d), paragraphs 103 to 108praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:commission-draft-high-risk-classification-guidelinesOpen official source

Recommended step

A practical step we consider appropriate. Not an obligation following from the Regulation.

Test your system on one question: does the output produce anything specific to this case that points towards an outcome? If so, assume high-risk. Where possible, build a hard separation between information retrieval and assessment logic.
- Locator: Section IV.2.7.1(d), paragraphs 103 to 108praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:commission-draft-high-risk-classification-guidelinesOpen official source

When this applies

No condition recorded on this object.

When this does not apply

No exception recorded on this object.

Referring to this object

Citation block

Copy this reference into your advice, article or file. The identifier, the version and the hash keep the statement findable later, even once the dataset has moved on.

Reference

Praxikon, "Preparatory or decisive: general input is allowed, a specific recommendation is not",
praxikon:eu:ai-act:guidance:guidance-high-risk-preparatory-versus-decisive@1.0.0,
dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0 (schema 1.4.0),
effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z,
sha256 5949170ab144d33aebcd0c63bafdfb84bcb158968ee437e2f0b691b532c4aada,
https://www.praxikon.com/en/verkenner/guidance/guidance-high-risk-preparatory-versus-decisive
(https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/entities?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aguidance%3Aguidance-high-risk-preparatory-versus-decisive&effective_at=2026-08-08&known_at=2026-08-08&lang=en, accessed 2026-08-25)

Short form

praxikon:eu:ai-act:guidance:guidance-high-risk-preparatory-versus-decisive@1.0.0 (sha256 5949170a)

BibTeX

@misc{praxikon-eu-ai-act-guidance-guidance-high-risk-preparatory-versus-decisive-1-0-0,
  author       = {{Praxikon}},
  title        = {Preparatory or decisive: general input is allowed, a specific recommendation is not},
  year         = {2026},
  version      = {1.0.0},
  number       = {praxikon:eu:ai-act:guidance:guidance-high-risk-preparatory-versus-decisive},
  howpublished = {AI Act Change \& Evidence Graph, dataset 2.1.0, schema 1.4.0},
  note         = {effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 5949170ab144d33aebcd0c63bafdfb84bcb158968ee437e2f0b691b532c4aada},
  url          = {https://www.praxikon.com/en/verkenner/guidance/guidance-high-risk-preparatory-versus-decisive},
  urldate      = {2026-08-25},
  language     = {en}
}

CSL JSON

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