  In April 2021, the European Commission proposed a Regulation on Artificial
Intelligence, known as the AI Act. We present an overview of the Act and
analyse its implications, drawing on scholarship ranging from the study of
contemporary AI practices to the structure of EU product safety regimes over
the last four decades. Aspects of the AI Act, such as different rules for
different risk-levels of AI, make sense. But we also find that some provisions
of the Draft AI Act have surprising legal implications, whilst others may be
largely ineffective at achieving their stated goals. Several overarching
aspects, including the enforcement regime and the risks of maximum
harmonisation pre-empting legitimate national AI policy, engender significant
concern. These issues should be addressed as a priority in the legislative
process.
