Polish Pharmacies Must Clean Up Chatbots and AI Recommendations Before August 2

From August 2, 2026, pharmacies in Poland must clearly inform patients when they are talking to an artificial intelligence system rather than a pharmacist. The obligation stems from the EU's AI Act, which enters a further stage of application on that date and covers, among other things, chatbots on pharmacy websites, virtual assistants on helplines, and medication booking apps.

What's changing in pharmacies

The AI Act classifies the pharmaceutical sector as an area of special oversight. Many algorithms used in pharmacies today, from systems checking drug interactions to chatbots advising on supplement choices, fall into the high-risk category or are subject to information obligations toward patients. This means pharmacies can no longer treat such tools as a neutral add-on to customer service.

The transparency principle requires that patients know at all times that they are dealing with an AI system rather than a human. This applies not only to text chats on websites, but also to voice assistants on helplines and mobile apps that allow booking or ordering medication.

The pharmacist has the final word

The second pillar of the new requirements is the principle of human oversight, known as human-in-the-loop. Under this principle, the final decision on dispensing a medication or a therapeutic recommendation must always rest with a licensed pharmacist, regardless of what the algorithm suggests. Systems supporting drug interaction analysis or supplementation recommendations are meant to serve as an additional layer of verification, not to replace the pharmacist.

In practice, this means pharmacy staff must have a real ability to verify, modify, or completely disregard a suggestion generated by AI. That requires not only appropriate internal procedures but also technical tools that don't hide from the pharmacist the basis on which the system formulated its recommendation.

AI should be a tool that supports the pharmacist, not one that replaces their knowledge, experience and responsibility - Karolina Widelska, Związek Aptek Franczyzowych

Health data under special oversight

The third area is patient data security. Health information processed by AI systems counts as sensitive data under GDPR, which requires pharmacies to apply the highest cybersecurity standards along with advanced anonymization and pseudonymization mechanisms. The risk of such data leaking grows with the number of AI tools connected to pharmacy systems, from inventory management software to loyalty apps.

The author of the analysis also points to the risk tied to the quality of recommendations generated by the chatbots themselves. Systems based on large language models can provide imprecise or incorrect guidance on medications, which, without proper oversight, can genuinely threaten patient safety.

AI literacy in practice

The fourth requirement is so-called AI literacy, meaning the digital competence of staff. Pharmacy employees must understand how the AI tools they use work, what their limitations are, and when they might generate incorrect answers, referred to in the industry as algorithm hallucinations. Staff should know in which situations not to rely on the system's suggestions and when an independent, human judgment call is required.

The Związek Aptek Franczyzowych recommends a four-stage plan for preparing pharmacies for the new regulations. The first step is to inventory and audit all AI tools in use, from customer-facing chatbots to algorithms optimizing warehouse stock.

The second stage is reviewing contracts with IT system vendors, to make sure suppliers meet AI Act requirements, provide the required technical documentation, and guarantee that data processing complies with GDPR. The third step is rolling out procedures and information labels across all digital channels where a patient might interact with an AI system.

What's next for the industry

The final element of the plan is training staff on the safe and ethical use of AI, along with establishing clear procedures for human oversight of algorithm-assisted decisions. The association stresses that the sector should not treat the AI Act merely as a formal bureaucratic obligation, but as an opportunity for an orderly digital transformation.

For Polish pharmacies, whose numbers have been steadily declining month after month, the new obligations mean additional implementation costs at a time when the sector is already under financial pressure. At the same time, failing to comply with AI Act requirements exposes pharmacies to the penalties set out in the regulation, which can reach millions of euros for serious breaches of the rules on AI system transparency.