Lecture: How to design within the AI Act and how that relates to the Affordable Housing Act

The AI ​​Act is often presented as compliance, a list of obligations that designers and municipalities must tick off. However, the aim of the Act is to protect fundamental rights, human oversight, and democratic decision-making against the risks of AI systems. What does this mean for cities using AI systems and for designers developing AI solutions? Which applications fall under which risk level? What does the obligation for human oversight mean for the way you configure a system—not as an afterthought, but as a design choice made in advance? And do you organize resident participation? Using his own practical examples, designer Lars van Vianen demonstrates how to work within the AI ​​Act.

The Affordable Housing Act focuses heavily on digitalization as an instrument to accelerate the housing construction challenge. The European Commission explicitly designates digital permitting as the standard cities must move towards. In this respect, the Act stands in contrast to the due diligence required by the AI ​​Act: one law pushes for speed and automation, the other for human oversight and verifiability.

We demonstrate how a municipality digitizing its permitting process to meet the 60-day deadline must do so within the limits the AI ​​Act sets for AI-driven decision-making. What does that mean for the design of such a system? And who actually still maintains control in the case of an automated permit within 60 days?