May I monitor my drivers with AI?
Adopted 2026-06-14 · ≈ 2 min read · 
edited by Dirk Baaijen
Partly. Emotion recognition in the workplace is banned under the AI Act. AI for scheduling, planning or recruitment is high-risk with strict duties. Other monitoring is allowed if AI literacy and privacy rules are met.
Short answer: It depends on what the AI does. Emotion recognition in the workplace is banned, AI for scheduling, planning and recruitment is high-risk, and other monitoring is in principle allowed provided you meet the baseline obligations.
The AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) is being introduced in phases between 2025 and 2027. For transport and logistics companies that want to monitor their drivers with AI, the way the AI is used determines which rules apply.
What is prohibited
Emotion recognition in the workplace is a prohibited practice. A system that infers a driver's mood or stress from face, voice or behaviour may in principle not be deployed. The AI Act has one narrow exception — medical or safety reasons: fatigue detection aimed demonstrably and solely at safety may fall under it, monitoring that effectively measures performance or attitude does not. The ban has applied since 2 February 2025 and cannot be legitimised with consent or a business interest.
What is high-risk
AI used for staff scheduling, planning or recruitment falls under high-risk (Annex III, point 4). Think of a planning system that assigns routes or assesses performance to support decisions about drivers. High-risk systems are subject to strict requirements on risk management, data quality, transparency and human oversight. These obligations formally apply from 2 August 2026; via the Digital Omnibus this shifts to 2 December 2027. Transparency obligations (Article 50) take effect on 2 December 2026.
What applies to everyone
AI literacy (Article 4) has applied since 2 February 2025 to everyone who deploys AI, so it applies even if you only use "ordinary" monitoring. You must ensure that the people working with the system have sufficient knowledge to use it responsibly. Note: a warehouse robot can also be a safety component (Annex I) in combination with the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, which applies from January 2027.
Read the main file: AI regulation for logistics and transport. Or take the Transport & Logistics scan.
Sources
- https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/oj
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act); phased application 2025–2027.
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