In April 2021, the European Commission published the proposal for an EU Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act), which aims to make the European Union “a global leader in the development of secure, trustworthy and ethical Artificial Intelligence”. In Article 5 EU AI Act, the law prohibits “the placing on the market, putting into service or use of an AI system that deploys subliminal techniques beyond a person’s consciousness in order to materially distort a person’s behaviour in a manner that causes or is likely to cause that person or another person physical or psychological harm.” This specific clause draws attention to the importance of the senses, perception and cognition not only for the regulation of AI in particular but also law in general, in both theory and practice. Thus, the presentation aims to highlight the danger for manipulation inherent in subliminal AI systems and difficulties related to enforcement of the planned prohibition. It will also cast light on the role of the senses in drawing a line between perception below (subliminal) and above (supraliminal) the threshold of awareness. Finally, possible changes in the perception of time will be used to highlight some of the imminent challenges for the future of law.