EU AI Act and AI literacy training: what Article 4 asks of your organisation

What does the EU AI Act say about AI literacy?

Article 4 is short. Since 27 July 2026, paragraph 1 reads:

“Providers and deployers of AI systems shall take measures to support the development of AI literacy of their staff and other persons dealing with the operation and use of AI systems on their behalf, taking into account their technical knowledge, experience, education and training and the context the AI systems are to be used in, and considering the persons or groups of persons on whom the AI systems are to be used. This obligation does not require providers or deployers to guarantee any specific level of AI literacy of any individual.”

Paragraphs 2 and 3 put duties on the authorities, not on your organisation:

“2. The Commission and the Member States shall support and facilitate the efforts of providers and deployers of AI systems, in particular SMEs, in fulfilling their obligation under paragraph 1 of this Article. For that purpose, the Commission shall publish practical examples of how to comply with that obligation on the single information platform referred to in Article 62(3), point (b).”

“3. The Board shall adopt recommendations, taking into account European competence frameworks, to support the Commission and Member States in the promotion of AI literacy required under paragraph 1, including by setting out common objectives.”

A “deployer” is any organisation that uses an AI system in its work, so this covers most employers whose staff use tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini.

Is EU AI Act training mandatory?

The obligation is to take measures to support AI literacy. The Act does not say those measures must be a course. The European Commission’s Q&A says:

“There is no one size fit all when it comes to AI literacy and no strict requirements or mandatory trainings are imposed.”

On proof, it says: “There is no need for a certificate. Organisations can keep an internal record of trainings and/or other guiding initiatives.” The Commission also warns that “in many cases, simply relying on the AI systems’ instructions for use or asking the staff to read them might be ineffective.”

One exception to keep in mind: the Commission notes that “for those who deploy high-risk AI systems, the obligation to ensure that their staff is trained to ensure human oversight remains in place.”

Key dates

The 2 August 2026 date comes from the Commission’s guidance, not from the text of the Act.

What changed with the Digital Omnibus?

The original 2024 text required organisations to “take measures to ensure, to their best extent, a sufficient level of AI literacy”. Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 replaced that with a duty to “take measures to support the development of AI literacy”, and added that the obligation “does not require providers or deployers to guarantee any specific level of AI literacy of any individual”. Recital 8 explains why: “a solution imposing stringent obligations to ensure a sufficient level of AI literacy would not be suitable for all types of providers and deployers”.

Some official pages still quote the old “sufficient level” wording. The current text is the one above.

Who enforces AI literacy in Ireland?

Ireland uses a distributed model. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment says “The Irish Government decided that Ireland adopt a distributed model of implementation of the EU AI Act, building on the capacity and expertise of established sectoral regulators”, with 15 named competent authorities, and “The AI Office of Ireland was established on 2 August 2026.” The pages we checked do not say which authority supervises Article 4.

How do I build an AI literacy programme for my team?

Article 4 tells you what to take into account, so use it as the plan:

1. List the AI systems your organisation uses and who uses them.
2. Group staff by technical knowledge, experience, education and training, as Article 4 says. A developer, a manager and a front-line user need different things.
3. Consider the context and the people affected. Staff using AI on customer, patient or student data need more on risks and limits.
4. Choose measures for each group: a short general course, tool-specific training, internal guidance, or a mix.
5. Keep an internal record of what you did and when. The Commission says this is enough; no certificate is needed.

AI literacy courses compared

CyberSuite’s course covers the EU AI Act but may pre-date the July 2026 change to Article 4, so check its wording against the text above.

Free and funded options for Irish organisations

• CeADAR’s EDIH for AI offers fully funded AI training to eligible SMEs, mid-caps and public service organisations. See funded AI training in Ireland.
• AIReady.ie is the Government’s free AI skills website for the public.
• Skillnet Ireland networks subsidise staff training for private-sector companies. See Skillnet AI courses.
• For whole-team options, see AI training for teams.