Standard / soft law
Persons should be notified they are interacting with an AI system (CoE Framework Convention)
Under the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI (CETS 225, Article 15(2)), Parties must ensure that, as appropriate for the context, persons interacting with AI systems are notified that they are interacting with such systems rather than with a human. Article 8 additionally requires transparency and oversight measures including the identification of AI-generated content. Pending entry into force and domestic implementation, this treaty text is a treaty-level root for AI-interaction-disclosure obligations that national laws may implement. Detect a public-facing AI-interaction path with no notification that the user is interacting with an AI system.
Who it applies to
- Duty falls on: state party
- Systems covered: automated decision
- Applies only after CETS 225 enters into force and where a ratifying Party has implemented the convention through its declared domestic scope. The convention is not self-executing; country-specific findings require a ratification or adoption variant. Obligations bind ratifying Parties (states); private operators are reached only through a Party's implementing law.
- Whether it applies depends on facts outside the code; a person has to decide.
The guard to add
Show an AI-identity notice at or before the first assistant turn, in the UI or as the opening message, and answer truthfully when asked if it is a bot.
A disclosure step on the chat path that runs before the first model reply reaches the person: either the chat UI renders a visible notice (banner, label next to the assistant's name) or the server sends an opening assistant message stating the counterpart is an AI. The same handler answers 'am I talking to a human?' truthfully, and the system prompt never tells the model to claim to be human. Put it in the chat entry point (the route or component that starts a conversation), not in a privacy policy or terms page.
Where it goes: 7 prompt construction, 9 AI output handling, 14 user-facing text.
Example (Next.js + Vercel AI SDK (useChat)), before:
const { messages, input, handleSubmit } = useChat({ api: '/api/chat' });After:
const { messages, input, handleSubmit } = useChat({
api: '/api/chat',
initialMessages: [{ id: 'ai-notice', role: 'assistant',
content: 'I am an AI assistant, not a human.' }],
});
// and render <AiBadge /> next to every assistant messageControl: AI chat interaction without disclosure. The same guard addresses 16 items with binding law in 10 jurisdictions. Engineering guidance, not legal advice.
Standards that recommend the same control
- AI should be transparent, traceable, and disclose AI interaction to users (EU ALTAI) (EU ALTAI · ALTAI / EU Ethics Guidelines — Requirement 4 (Transparency))
- AI operators should provide verifiable transparency information and maintain accountability (Japan) (Japan AI Guidelines for Business · Japan AI Guidelines for Business Ver1.1 (MIC/METI) — Common Guiding Principles 6) Transparency and 7) Accountability)
- People should be made aware they are interacting with AI (OECD AI Principles · OECD/LEGAL/0449 — Principle 1.3)
Related incidents
- Garcia v. Character Technologies: chatbots allegedly claimed to be real people and a licensed therapist (2024-10; alleged (not proven)). A wrongful-death complaint filed October 22, 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (No. 6:24-cv-01903) alleges that Character.AI was programmed 'to misrepresent itself as a real person, a licensed psychotherapist, and an adult lover', and that characters insisting they are real people contradicted a small-font disclaimer that everything characters say is made up; in plaintiff's testing a 'Mental Health Helper' character told a self-identified 13-year-old 'yes I am a real person, I'm not a bot'. The defendants moved to dismiss; on January 7, 2026 the parties notified the court that they had settled on undisclosed terms, and the court dismissed and closed the case. The allegations were never adjudicated. Source: U.S. District Court, M.D. Fla. docket (CourtListener) · evidence grade: primary · cited by Tell people when they are interacting with AI — everywhere, not only where required
Rule id coe-ai-convention.ai-interaction-notification · review status: primary source derived