AI Act training (Article 4): the AI literacy obligation for companies. What actually applies in 2026
Article 4 of the AI Act (the AI literacy obligation) has applied since 2 February 2025 and covers every company that uses AI at work. Compliance is two things: competent people plus documentation (program, attendance list, materials). No fear-selling: the real timeline and a training day that leaves an Article 4 paper trail. Our training starts at €1,200 net per day.
The AI literacy obligation under Article 4 of the AI Act has applied since 2 February 2025 and covers every company that uses AI at work. In practice, compliance is two things: competent people and documentation that proves it (program, attendance list, materials). We run our training from €1,200 net per day (we invoice in PLN).
A lot of noise has gathered around this article. Part of the legal market sells it as one more fine hanging over your company. We prefer to sell dates and a paper trail, because that is the whole truth about Article 4: it is an obligation to keep people competent that you can meet and document in a single day, without panic and without spending a fortune.
Quick answer
- What applies: Article 4 of the AI Act, the duty to ensure "AI literacy", an adequate level of AI competence among the people who operate AI systems on the company's behalf or are affected by them.
- Since when: since 2 February 2025. This is an obligation that is already active, not a future deadline.
- Who it covers: every company that uses AI in a professional capacity, regardless of sector or size.
- What it means in practice: competent people plus documentation that proves it. Three artifacts are enough as a trail: program, attendance list, materials.
- What it costs with us: AI training (Claude) for companies from €1,200 net per day (we invoice in PLN). The team offer is on the team training page.
Who does Article 4 cover, and since when?
Article 4 speaks about providers and deployers of AI systems. In practice this means almost every company that uses AI at work: a law firm that summarizes filings, an accounting office that classifies invoices, an e-commerce shop with a sales assistant, an HR team that processes CVs, a marketing team that generates content.
The obligation is not about "the company" in the abstract, it is about people. It concerns the people who operate AI on the company's behalf and the people affected by that AI. The level of competence should match the role: one thing for a team that only uses a ready-made tool, another for a person who designs a process with AI at its core.
The date is unambiguous: 2 February 2025. Anyone waiting for the rule to "come into force" is waiting for something that has already happened.
What is at stake if you skip training?
Here you have to be precise, because this is where fear-selling usually appears. The honest answer: Article 4 itself does not carry its own fine tariff. There is no provision that says "no training equals X in penalties".
That does not make the obligation meaningless. Staff competence is examined through market surveillance, and its absence feeds the assessment of a company's due diligence when an AI-related incident occurs: a wrong decision, a data leak, a discriminatory outcome. A company that cannot show it took care of people's competence stands on weaker ground: in an inspection, in a dispute, in an assessment of liability.
So we treat Article 4 as a real documentation obligation, not as a box to tick and not as an axe over your head. The point is not to dodge a mythical fine. The point is to hold proof that the company acted reasonably.
Which AI Act deadlines actually apply in 2026?
This is the only table you need. The rest is noise.
| Obligation | Date | Who it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Article 4: AI competence (AI literacy) | since 2 February 2025 | every company using AI at work |
| Article 50: transparency (users must know they are dealing with AI) | from 2 August 2026 | systems interacting with people, regardless of risk class |
| Article 50(2): machine-readable content marking (for systems already on the market) | postponed to 2 December 2026 | providers of content-generating systems |
| Obligations for high-risk systems (Annex III) | postponed to 2 December 2027 | selected high-risk uses (market context) |
The postponements come from a package known as the Digital Omnibus: political agreement was reached on 7 May 2026, the European Parliament approved it on 16 June 2026, and publication in the Official Journal is still under way (as of July 2026). The two dates that matter most to companies, Article 4 and Article 50, remain unchanged.
An important caveat: we give the high-risk obligations as market context, not as a date that every company must put in its calendar. Most ordinary uses of AI in a company are not high-risk. Do not take on a deadline that does not apply to you.
What does a training day that satisfies the obligation look like?
Training under Article 4 is not a lecture about the future of AI. Its job is twofold: to genuinely raise the team's competence and to leave behind a trail that attaches to the company's documentation.
Our AI training (Claude) for companies is run by engineers with systems in production, not staff trainers. The difference is practical: the day goes to participants' real tasks, to what may and may not be handed to AI, where the boundaries begin, and how to recognize a result you cannot trust. That is AI literacy in the sense the rule intends, not a set of curiosities.
The day divides well when the group is matched by level rather than gathered "everyone at once". A team that is just starting needs the basics: what AI does well, where it errs, how to phrase an instruction, and how to check the result. People who already use AI need something else: repeatable workflows, data-safety rules, and the limits of autonomy. That split is, in fact, exactly what Article 4 calls for, a level of competence adequate to the role, not one training for everyone.
After the day, the client is left with three artifacts that together form the Article 4 trail:
- a training program matched to the team's roles and level,
- an attendance list of participants,
- the materials and exercises from the workshop.
To date we have delivered five one-on-one training sessions. We run the team format on the same program. The price starts at €1,200 net per day; the full terms are on the team training page, and all service lines with prices are on the pricing page.
There is also a practical funding angle: possible co-financing from KFS (the Polish National Training Fund); the employer applies. This is not a promise that the funding will be granted, only a signpost to a path worth checking before you decide.
Disclaimer: our materials are input to the client's documentation, not legal advice. Classification of AI systems and operational duties stay with the company. We provide the competence and the trail; the decision on how to fit them into a compliance policy is the company's, with its own lawyer where needed.
What does Article 4 NOT require?
Most of the fear comes from things that are not in the rule. A few myths to delete:
- It does not require a certificate from an accredited body. Article 4 says nothing about an official exam or a stamped document. What counts is real competence and the company's ability to show it.
- It does not require identical training for everyone. The level should match the role. Someone who summarizes a document once a week needs something different from someone designing a process with AI in it.
- It does not require registration or notification to an authority. For ordinary use of AI there is no duty to report anywhere. The documentation stays with you in case of an inspection.
- It does not require mandatory annual repetition on a fixed date. Competence has to be maintained when the technology or the process changes, but the rule does not impose a rigid training calendar.
- It does not introduce its own monetary penalty. As above: Article 4 is a duty to keep people competent, not a schedule of fines.
If you hear an offer built on these myths, you are hearing fear being sold. The real obligation is narrower, more concrete, and entirely manageable.
Where to start
If you first want to understand where AI even sits in your company and how to treat it, a map of the concepts helps: what is an AI agent explains the difference between a chatbot, a copilot, and an agent, because the level of autonomy shapes what competence the team needs.
If you already know you need training with a real Article 4 trail, the next step is simple:
- Request team training and tell us who uses AI in the company and for what.
- We match the program to roles so the day goes to participants' real tasks, not generalities.
- After the training you get the program, the attendance list, and the materials: a ready trail to attach to your documentation.
- Check the possible co-financing from KFS; the employer applies.
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