Annex III: High-Risk AI Categories Explained
Annex III is where many compliance programs succeed or fail. It translates abstract regulation into concrete high-risk categories tied to rights and societal impact.
Why Annex III classification is critical
If a use case falls under Annex III and relevant conditions apply, obligations increase substantially. Teams should classify by real deployment context, not by vendor marketing labels.
Category-oriented interpretation for SMEs
- Biometric and identity contexts: elevated safeguards due to rights sensitivity.
- Education and training: systems influencing access or evaluation require careful governance.
- Employment and worker management: recruiting and performance-related AI are frequent high-risk candidates.
- Essential services access: credit, insurance, and similar pathways are high-impact domains.
- Law enforcement, migration, justice contexts: highly sensitive sectors with strict scrutiny.
Implementation pattern
- Create annex-mapping field in your AI inventory.
- Document trigger rationale per system.
- Route flagged systems into enhanced controls and documentation.
- Reassess whenever use scope changes.
Final takeaway
Annex III is not a theory list. It is a prioritization engine for risk and control depth. Use it early in product and procurement reviews.