DLN AI Learning Hour: Should UK nonprofits follow the EU AI Act anyway?
Type of Learning Hour
Peer Discussion
Session lead
Sashy Nathan, Co-Founder, Commons Legal
Hosted and supported by the Digital Leads Network, part of CAST.
Purpose of this session
A facilitated peer discussion focused on one shared question about AI. The aim is to create space for collective sense-making, drawing on participants’ experiences, uncertainties and perspectives, rather than arriving at a single ‘right’ answer.
Session overview
The question we’ll explore: Should UK nonprofits follow the EU AI Act, even though we may not be legally required to?
The EU has written down what responsible AI use is supposed to look like. The UK hasn't. Most UK nonprofits fall outside the EU AI Act's scope as it generally only applies if you're placing an AI system on the EU market or the outputs are used there. So a UK charity offering, say, an AI triage or signposting tool to beneficiaries in Ireland or France, for example, would fall within scope for those activities.
But that leaves an open question: is there something in the EU's approach that would actually be useful to us? And if we're not using it, what are we relying on instead?
This session is a chance for members to look at what the Act asks for, and weigh whether adopting any of it voluntarily would strengthen how their organisation handles AI. It’s also a chance to be honest about which risks they're currently managing on instinct, goodwill or what their trustees happen to ask.
Session structure
Peer Discussion framing and context: 10 mins
Facilitated group discussion: 40-45 mins
Reflections & close: 5–10 mins