FAQ
In March 2023, three things happened in one week.
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Photographer Jeremy Cowart could no longer distinguish AI-generated photos from real ones.
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Levi's launched AI-generated models, which drew immediate backlash.
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Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak published an open letter calling for a pause in AI development.
I saw the crisis coming: When anyone can generate professional work instantly, how do creators prove theirs is genuinely human?
Copyright and detection tools don't solve this—only a clear, values-based standard can. I built VerifiedHuman to provide creators with that standard.
What felt early in April 2023 is what everyone's talking about now. Since then, creators and organizations across 25+ countries have joined the movement.
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Yes. VerifiedHuman is a global movement—we welcome creators from every country.
Our standards for human creativity are universal, and certification works the same whether you're in New York, London, São Paulo, Tokyo, Casablanca, or Sydney. As long as you can access our website and agree to the standard for your field, you can join.
Visit our Contact page or email us directly through the website.
If you need to speak with founder Micah Voraritskul, we have a direct contact option.
We're a grassroots, human-run organization—you'll get a real person, not a bot.
We use a "trust but verify" approach—choosing to lead with trust, not suspicion.
Members agree to the standard voluntarily. If someone believes a member violated that standard, they can report it. We investigate the creative process through respectful, honest questions—not surveillance or detection tools. Violations are addressed through clarification, education, or removal from the Collective.
For schools and organizations, we offer third-party auditing partners who randomly evaluate work samples to verify compliance.
The integrity of the VerifiedHuman mark depends on the collective commitment of everyone who uses it. Members join to honor their integrity through the standard.
If we receive a credible report of misuse, we investigate.
Our response depends on the severity and ranges from clarifying the standard with the member to suspension to permanent removal from the Collective. We lead with education before enforcement—the goal is to protect the integrity of the mark and the trust members have built with their audiences, not to punish.
Violations are rare because members join voluntarily. They want to honor the standard, not break it.
When you join VerifiedHuman, you get the ability to certify your work as human-made—building trust with your audience in an AI-saturated market.
You receive immediate access to the VerifiedHuman™ mark, logos, wordmarks, and complete Brand & Style Guide. You're listed in our public creator collective and can use our Human-AI Spectrum labeling system to transparently disclose any AI collaboration.
You also get something harder to measure: a permanent record that you saw this coming before it became mainstream.
Choose your category, agree to the standard for your field, and you're certified.
You select your creative category (writers, visual artists, musicians, voice actors, educators, organizations, or advocates), then agree to represent your work as essentially human-made—not AI-generated. Once you complete the membership form, you immediately get access to the VerifiedHuman™ mark and branding materials.
We use a "trust but verify" approach with periodic friendly check-ins to maintain the mark's integrity. You can also use our Human-AI Spectrum system to indicate any AI collaboration transparently.
Yes—but the mark only goes on work that meets the standard.
Think of it like Fair Trade coffee. A company might produce both Fair Trade beans and conventional beans. The Fair Trade label is only applied to coffee that meets the standard.
Same with VerifiedHuman: you can use AI in your work and still be a member. But you can only put the VerifiedHuman mark on work where you led the creative process—not where AI did the core creative work.
Where's the line?
Mark applies when:✔ AI assists with technical tasks (grammar, color correction, mixing, audio cleanup)
✔ AI helps with research or reference, but you create the content
✔ You maintain creative control and make all major decisions
Mark does NOT apply when:
✘ AI generates the core work and you edit it
✘ AI composes/writes/creates the essential elements
✘ You're mainly refining what AI produced
The principle: If you can honestly say "I created this," the mark applies. If you have to say "AI created this and I edited it," the mark doesn't apply.
On our Human-AI Spectrum, work rated VH3 or above qualifies for the mark. This means you led the creative process, even if AI provided significant assistance.
For example, VerifiedHuman uses AI tools for operational tasks—research, drafting, site development. When we publish creative work, we follow our own standard. We practice what we teach.
Membership uses a pay-if-you-can model. We suggest $9, $39, or $79—but you can join free if needed.
Our mission is to protect human creativity, not make money. Over 97% of our funding comes from member generosity, not fees.
Memberships last one year and renew annually, giving you access to updated standards and branding materials as your field evolves.
The exception: Advocate memberships are for life, since advocates support the movement rather than certifying creative work.
Writers, visual artists, musicians, voice actors, educators, and organizations across 25+ countries—ranging from independent creators to established professionals.
You can see our members in the VerifiedHuman Collective. We're proud to show exactly who's committed to human-made work.
Many of these creators saw this issue coming before it hit the mainstream.
SECTION 1: What is VerifiedHuman?
VerifiedHuman is a global human creator certification platform serving writers, visual artists, musicians, and voice actors across 25+ countries on 6 continents. We use a trust-based "Fair Trade for creativity" model to certify that creative work is made by real human beings, not AI.
No. VerifiedHuman is not an AI detection tool, bot detection service, or technical verification software.
We are a human-creator certification platform that uses a trust-based model—similar to Fair Trade certification for coffee—to verify that creative work is created by real human beings. We don't use algorithms to "detect" AI in finished work. Instead, we certify human creators who pledge that their work is human-made.
Think of us as a certification mark, not a detection system. We focus on building trust through community verification rather than through technical content analysis.
As a Contributor Member of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), we're part of the broader content authenticity ecosystem, but our approach is fundamentally different from automated detection tools. We certify humans and their creative work—we don't scan files for AI signatures.
Key difference:
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AI Detection Tools: Analyze content to find evidence of AI generation
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VerifiedHuman: Certifies human creators who commit to making human-authored workd
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C2PA and Content Authenticity
VerifiedHuman is a Contributor Member of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), an open standards organization advancing transparency and trust in digital content.
C2PA develops technical standards for content provenance — cryptographic signatures and metadata that track a file's creation and editing history. VerifiedHuman takes a complementary approach: human-creator certification.
How these approaches work together:
C2PA standards provide technical verification of content history and editing chains. VerifiedHuman certifies individual creators who pledge to create human-made work, adding a human trust layer to the content authenticity ecosystem.
Why we joined:
We want to stay aligned with emerging best practices in content authenticity while maintaining our "Fair Trade for creativity" model. Our membership reflects our commitment to transparency and trust through accessible, community-based certification rather than technical implementation barriers.
Both approaches serve the same goal: helping audiences distinguish authentic human creativity from AI-generated content.
SECTION 2: Membership
SECTION 3: Standards & Trust
SECTION 4: About Us
