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VerifiedHuman™ HUMAN-AI SPECTRUM

IMPORTANT:

  • You can use AI tools and still be VerifiedHuman™ certified. The VerifiedHuman mark applies to work rated VH3 or above—where you lead the creative process and AI assists.

  • Think of it like Fair Trade coffee: a producer can make both Fair Trade and conventional products. The label goes on what meets the standard, not everything they make.

  • You can be a VerifiedHuman member and create both certified work and AI-generated work. Just use the mark only on work that qualifies.

What the spectrum measures

  • The spectrum answers one question: Who led the creative process?

  • These rubrics help creators and organizations clearly communicate how much of a work is human-created versus AI-generated—and who made the essential creative decisions.

VerifiedHuman labels may include a VH rating when applicable, but only levels VH3 and above qualify for the VerifiedHuman mark.

WRITING RUBRIC

A continuum for assessing the level of collaboration between human and artificial intelligence in the writing process.

​VH5 - Entirely Human-Written

  • The writer selected and arranged every word without generative AI

  • Traditional writing tools (spell-check, word processors, thesauruses) are fine

  • The work reflects the writer's voice, perspective, and creative decisions

VH4 - Human-Written, AI-Enhanced

  • The writer selected and arranged every word

  • Generative AI may assist with non-writing tasks: research, outlining, brainstorming, grammar suggestions, citation formatting

  • The writer's voice and creative decisions dominate; AI supports the process but doesn't generate the prose

VH3 - Human-Led, AI-Assisted

  • The writer leads the creative process; AI contributes but doesn't control

  • AI may generate raw material (drafts, passages, ideas), but the writer substantially transforms it

  • The final work reflects the writer's voice and choices—not AI output with minor edits

  • Apply the Five-Word Principle as a gut-check: if you're pasting AI phrases unchanged, you haven't transformed the material

VH2 - AI-Led, Human-Directed

  • AI generates most of the content; the human provides direction, prompts, and oversight

  • The human may edit or curate AI output, but doesn't substantially transform it

  • The final work reflects AI's selection and arrangement of words, shaped by human guidance

VH1 - Entirely AI-Generated

  • AI generates the content with no meaningful human involvement beyond prompting

  • The human's role is limited to initiating and accepting the output

  • The final work is AI's selection and arrangement of words

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VISUAL ARTS RUBRIC

A continuum for assessing the level of collaboration between human and artificial intelligence in the creation of visual art. It's important to note that visual arts encompass a wide range of mediums, including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, architecture, dance, and other visible art forms.

VH5 - Entirely Human-Created

  • The artist captured or created all visual elements without generative AI

  • Traditional tools (color correction, exposure adjustment, image editing, CAD) are fine

  • The work reflects the artist's vision, perspective, and creative decisions

VH4 - Human-Created, AI-Enhanced

  • The artist captured or created all visual elements

  • Generative AI may assist with non-visual tasks: research, reference gathering, written briefs, and technical documentation

  • The artist's vision and creative decisions dominate; AI supports the workflow but doesn't generate visual content

VH3 - Human-Led, AI-Assisted

  • The artist leads the creative process; AI contributes but doesn't control

  • AI may generate raw material (reference images, variations, components), but the artist substantially transforms it

  • The final work reflects the artist's vision and choices—not AI output with minor edits

  • Apply the Capture or Arrangement Principle as a gut-check: if you're using AI-generated elements unchanged, you haven't transformed the material

VH2 - AI-Led, Human-Directed

  • AI generates most of the visual content; the human provides direction, prompts, and oversight

  • The human may edit or curate AI output, but doesn't substantially transform it

  • The final work reflects AI's generation and arrangement of visual elements, shaped by human guidance

VH1 - Entirely AI-Generated

  • AI generates the visual content with no meaningful human involvement beyond prompting

  • The human's role is limited to initiating and accepting the output

  • The final work is AI's generation and arrangement of visual elements

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MUSIC RUBRIC

A continuum for assessing the level of collaboration between human and artificial intelligence in the process of creating music.

VH5 - Entirely Human-Composed

  • The musician selected and arranged all notes, sounds, and beats without generative AI

  • Traditional tools (pitch correction, timing, mixing, mastering, effects) are fine

  • The work reflects the musician's creativity, expression, and artistic decisions

VH4 - Human-Composed, AI-Enhanced

  • The musician selected and arranged all notes, sounds, and beats

  • Generative AI may assist with non-composition tasks: lyric prompts, research, reference tracks, technical documentation

  • The musician's creativity and artistic decisions dominate; AI supports the workflow but doesn't generate musical content

VH3 - Human-Led, AI-Assisted

  • The musician leads the creative process; AI contributes but doesn't control

  • AI may generate raw material (melodies, rhythms, loops, variations), but the musician substantially transforms it

  • The final work reflects the musician's artistic choices—not AI output with minor edits

  • Apply the Five-Note/Five-Beat Principle as a gut-check: if you're using AI-generated sequences unchanged, you haven't transformed the material

VH2 - AI-Led, Human-Directed

  • AI generates most of the musical content; the human provides direction, prompts, and oversight

  • The human may edit or curate AI output, but doesn't substantially transform it

  • The final work reflects AI's selection and arrangement of musical elements, shaped by human guidance

VH1 - Entirely AI-Generated

  • AI generates the music with no meaningful human involvement beyond prompting

  • The human's role is limited to initiating and accepting the output

  • The final work is AI's selection and arrangement of notes, sounds, and beats

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VOICE ACTING RUBRIC

A continuum for assessing the level of collaboration between human and artificial intelligence in the production of spoken audio content.

Note: Voice acting differs from other creative domains. The core question isn't whether you transformed AI material—it's whether a human voice or a synthetic voice speaks. At VH3 and above, the voice must be human.

VH5 - Entirely Human-Performed

  • The voice actor performed all vocal content without generative AI

  • Traditional tools (noise reduction, EQ, compression, mastering) are fine

  • The work reflects the performer's voice, interpretation, and emotional expression

VH4 - Human-Performed, AI-Enhanced

  • The voice actor performed all vocal content

  • Generative AI may assist with non-performance tasks: script generation, research, session notes, technical documentation

  • The performer's voice and artistic choices dominate; AI supports the workflow but doesn't generate vocal content

VH3 - Human-Led, AI-Assisted

  • The voice actor leads the performance; AI contributes to production but doesn't replace the human voice

  • AI may assist with significant production elements (heavy processing, timing adjustments), but the core vocal performance is human

  • The final work reflects the performer's voice and interpretation—not AI-generated or AI-cloned vocals

  • If the voice itself is AI-generated, it's not human performance

VH2 - AI-Led, Human-Directed

  • AI generates most of the vocal content; the human provides direction, prompts, and oversight

  • The human may edit or curate AI-generated voice output, but the voice itself is synthetic

  • The final work reflects AI-generated vocals, shaped by human guidance

VH1 - Entirely AI-Generated

  • AI generates the vocal content with no meaningful human involvement beyond prompting

  • The human's role is limited to initiating and accepting the output

  • The final work is AI-generated voice synthesis

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CONTENT CREATION RUBRIC

A continuum for assessing the level of collaboration between human and artificial intelligence in the production of multi-format content.

VH5 - Entirely Human-Produced

  • The creator conceived, developed, and assembled all content elements without generative AI

  • Traditional production tools (video editing software, graphic design tools, audio mixing, scheduling platforms, CMS systems, SEO tools) are fine

  • The work reflects the creator's vision, voice, and editorial decisions across every element

VH4 - Human-Produced, AI-Enhanced

  • The creator conceived, developed, and assembled all content elements

  • Generative AI may assist with non-creative production tasks: research, transcription, metadata, SEO suggestions, caption formatting, scheduling optimization

  • The creator's voice and editorial decisions dominate; AI supports the workflow but doesn't generate the content itself

VH3 - Human-Led, AI-Assisted

  • The creator leads the content strategy and creative direction; AI contributes but doesn't control

  • AI may generate raw material (draft copy, image options, audio cleanup, rough edits), but the creator substantially transforms and integrates those elements

  • The final work reflects the creator's editorial vision and voice — not assembled AI outputs with minor adjustments

  • Apply the Replacement Principle as a gut-check: if you stripped away every AI-generated element, would the creative vision still hold?

VH2 - AI-Led, Human-Directed

  • AI generates most content elements; the human provides direction, prompts, and oversight

  • The human may edit or curate AI output, but doesn't substantially transform or integrate it

  • The final work reflects AI-generated elements assembled with human guidance

VH1 - Entirely AI-Generated

  • AI generates the content with no meaningful human involvement beyond prompting

  • The human's role is limited to initiating and accepting the output

  • The final work is AI-generated elements across formats

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The VerifiedHuman™ Human–AI Spectrum is a 5-level framework for certifying human-made creative work. It defines how much of a work is human-created versus AI-generated, and identifies who led the creative process. Creators, educators, and organizations use it to communicate transparently about human authorship in writing, visual arts, music, voice acting, and content creation.

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