DEFINITIONS for VISUAL ARTISTS
Visual artists today face a credibility challenge: how do you prove your work is authentically yours when AI can generate compelling images instantly? This standard draws a clear line between human creation and machine generation.
QUICK REFERENCE
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VerifiedHuman label requires VH3 (Human-Led) or higher on the Human-AI Spectrum
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Essential question: "Who created it?"
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Acceptable AI use: Color correction, image editing, technical enhancements, CAD tools
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Not acceptable: AI-generated visual elements or compositions you claim as yours
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The Capture or Arrangement Principle: A gut-check—if you're using AI-generated elements unchanged, you haven't transformed the material
QUICK NAV
Foreword →
Definitions in the standard →
Other definitions ›
Interpretation →
The Capture or Arrangement Principle →
FOREWORD
The foundation of this standard is Essential Creation: who created it?
Visual elements in art can be combined and layered in countless ways. When a human captures or arranges visual elements, they are the essential creator. When a machine does it, the machine is the essential creator.
Visual work means the selection and arrangement of visual elements in a medium to be viewed or experienced—images that have been captured or created.
As AI image generation becomes ubiquitous, audiences need clarity about artistic authorship. This standard helps artists demonstrate their creative vision while maintaining flexibility in their technical process.
We support visual artists who use AI in non-standard ways.
For instance, some artists use AI to create intentional combinations of images that form innovative visual work. They may find the VerifiedHuman label unhelpful on that piece, but use it for more traditional work like photographs, paintings, or architectural drawings.
In this way, we hope to be helpful and encouraging to all visual artists.
HUMAN-AI COLLABORATION LEVELS
Our 5-level Human-AI Spectrum shows who led the creative process. All VerifiedHuman-labeled work must meet or exceed VH3, meaning the artist led.
VH5 - Entirely Human-Created
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The artist captured or created all visual elements without generative AI
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Traditional tools (color correction, exposure adjustment, image editing, CAD) are fine
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The work reflects the artist's vision, perspective, and creative decisions
VH4 - Human-Created, AI-Enhanced
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The artist captured or created all visual elements
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Generative AI may assist with non-visual tasks: research, reference gathering, written briefs, technical documentation
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The artist's vision and creative decisions dominate; AI supports the workflow but doesn't generate visual content
VH3 - Human-Led, AI-Assisted
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The artist leads the creative process; AI contributes but doesn't control
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AI may generate raw material (reference images, variations, components), but the artist substantially transforms it
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The final work reflects the artist's vision and choices—not AI output with minor edits
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Apply the Capture or Arrangement Principle as a gut-check: if you're using AI-generated elements unchanged, you haven't transformed the material
Work below VH3 is not eligible for the VerifiedHuman label.
USING CONTENT OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN (AIU)
Sometimes, visual artists incorporate elements with uncertain origins in their work. These might include discovered images, textures, or patterns where the creation method (human or AI) is unclear. In other cases, artists may suspect that AI has generated some of the material they are using, but the origin, time, place, or purpose is unknown or uncertain. When using visual elements of unknown origin, add the AIU (AI-Unknown) tag to your VH level designation, for example, VH4-AIU.
In the spirit of this standard, the question remains: Did you create it, or did AI create it? We believe the artist's intention to create and present visual work as their own should always remain with them. Therefore, we urge all visual artists to use the Capture or Arrangement Principle as a gut-check and iterate their work in the creative process to ensure that their final product is unique and distinctive.
DEFINITIONS
Here are definitions of words and ideas used in the Standard for Visual Artists.
Standard
A statement of commitment to specific creative practices
Visual Artist
The creator of visual work
Represent
Claim, present, or share work as your own
Visual work
Visual elements selected and arranged in a medium to be viewed or experienced
Team
A group of people working together
Intellectual property
A creative work to which one has legal rights, such as copyright or trademark
Essential
The fundamental elements or characteristics of something
Essentially created
When a visual artist captures or arranges visual elements to create visual work. The test: Who created it? (see Essential Creation below)
Essential visual elements
Lines, shapes, tones, colors, patterns, textures, and forms; can also include light, space, angle, and composition
Human
Noun: a person; Adjective: originating from a person
Generative AI
I systems trained on existing content that generate new text, images, audio, code, or video in response to prompts. Examples include ChatGPT, DALL-E, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion.
Machine learning
Algorithms that learn from data to make predictions or generate content
Other generative processes
Any other AI or machine learning process that creates new content
OTHER DEFINITIONS
Other definitions of words and ideas related to the Standard for Visual Artists.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
A field of computer science focused on creating systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, and generating content.
Image generation model
Image generation model AI systems trained on images that generate new visual content in response to prompts. Examples include DALL-E, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion.
INTERPRETATION
Here are two questions that AI-using artists must interpret independently. The artist is responsible for adhering to their own values and judgment.
Q: What if I take an existing image and apply a style, like making it look like Vincent Van Gogh painted it?
Applying styles in image creation/editing is a gray area. Styles are often linked to their original creators (especially publicly available software styles) and are influenced by their unique visual sensibilities.
Q: What if I have AI image generators (like MidJourney or Stable Diffusion) create images for me, and I rework the essential elements into my version? Some people use visual modeling with AI to jumpstart ideas, where AI generates initial models or drafts that they later personalize or contextualize.
Here's how to evaluate these approaches:
ACCEPTABLE: Using AI for technical tasks (color correction, resizing, noise reduction) while you capture or create all visual elements. The AI enhanced your work; you created it.
GRAY AREA: Using AI-generated style filters on your original image. Ask yourself: Does the style fundamentally transform your work, or enhance it? Who is credited for the visual result? Use the Capture or Arrangement Principle as a gut-check.
NOT ACCEPTABLE: Generating images with AI prompts and claiming them as your creation. If the AI assembled the visual elements and composition, the AI created that image—even if you wrote the prompt.
The question remains: Who created it?
REAL-WORLD SCENARIO: Landscape Photography with AI Enhancement
Maria photographs a sunset over the ocean. She uses AI to:
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Adjust exposure and white balance (technical enhancement)
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Remove sensor dust spots (image restoration)
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Enhance colors within the natural range (color correction)
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Sharpen focus on foreground elements (image enhancement)
Maria captured the image, selected the composition, and made all creative decisions.
VERDICT: VH4-VH5 (Human-Created, AI-Enhanced / Entirely Human-Created)
WHY IT QUALIFIES: AI assisted with technical post-processing, but Maria captured and arranged all visual elements. She is the essential creator.
THE CAPTURE OR ARRANGEMENT PRINCIPLE
If you're using visual elements that were not created by you, you're not the creator of that content. You're using visual work created by someone or something else.
The Capture or Arrangement Principle is a gut-check: if AI generated the essential visual elements that appear unchanged in your final work, that's a sign you haven't transformed the material.
The spirit of the principle remains in the question: "Did you create it, or did AI create it?"
ESSENTIAL CREATION
Visual artists, designers, drafters, photographers, and filmmakers use various elements like subjects, backgrounds, colors, textures, and light to create or capture visual images. These images can be viewed as physical objects or digital images or transferred to other mediums like paper.
Whenever we view a visual work, the question that arises is: Who or what is responsible for putting together these visual elements? This question applies to both the entirety of a visual work and its individual components.
RATIONALE
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The essential unit of visual creation is an element, and when combined, they form visual images.
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These resulting images can be viewed in different ways, including three-dimensional objects, digital images, posters, or photographs.
ASSUMPTION OF ESSENTIAL HUMAN CREATION
If a human uses elements to create visual images that can be viewed meaningfully, that person is the essential creator.
VerifiedHuman helps visual artists certify their work as human-made. Established in April 2023, the standard provides a clear framework for communicating who led the creative process. Free to join, pay what you can. Creators certified across 25+ countries worldwide.
