A New Creative Paradigm for Human / Artificial Intelligence
Authorship is evolving. Most creators — novelists, designers, coders, composers — already weave generative AI into their process, sketching storyboards, remixing beats, or colour-grading photos at machine speed. This Manifesto looks ahead to a near future in which AI will be present in almost every form of creative work — often invisibly. In that context, clearly identifying how a work was made will no longer be optional, but essential. Transparency about the “ingredients” of creation will be necessary for the healthy preservation of trust, meaning, and responsibility in a world of hybrid authorship.
The Authorship Indicators Manifesto proposes a structured way to describe and disclose the role of artificial intelligence in creative work — openly, accurately, and in context.
It is not the role of this manifesto to create systems of reward or coercion. It does not aim to incentivize disclosure through benefits, nor to enforce it through constraints. The AI:M Manifesto is a call, the AI:M Framework a set of principles, and the AI:M Score a tool for orientation and transparency.
AI:M Framework
The framework is a practical method for describing how artificial intelligence contributes to the creation of a work — making visible the degree and nature of human–machine collaboration.
It encourages creators to clearly state how AI tools were used, and invites publishers, institutions, and audiences to appreciate this transparency not only as context, but as something that enriches the authenticity, clarity, and meaning of the work itself.
The AI:M Framework does not prescribe how AI should be used. It offers a structure for describing that use — openly, responsibly, and in context.
It may be argued that creators will, in practice, avoid disclosing their use of AI — whether out of habit, uncertainty, or strategic silence. But the need for transparency does not rely on perfect honesty. It reflects a structural shift in authorship that must be addressed. Even if disclosure is uneven at first, the existence of a shared framework — and the cultural expectation it establishes — is essential. Acknowledging machine contributions is not only a question of compliance, but of creative integrity.
AI:M Principles
This framework is based on the acknowledgment that machines may contribute, but the human remains the source of intention, judgment, and responsibility — a foundation that gives rise to the following key principles:
- AI contributions must be transparent. We have a right to know how something was made.
- Collaboration is layered. AI:M makes space for shared processes, without confusion about origin.
- Responsibility stays with people. Decisions, interpretations, and impacts are human matters.
AI:M Score
The AI:M Score is a classification system, supported by scorecards, that signals the degree and nature of AI involvement in the creation of any work — novel, film sequence, orchestral score, source code — ranking it from fully human-made to fully machine-generated with distinct levels reflecting the balance of authorship.
The meaning of the score is always contextual.
Some situations — such as personal expression or educational evaluation — may call for minimal AI involvement. Others — such as technical, scientific, or analytical work — may benefit from more substantial support, especially when accuracy, consistency, or scale are priorities.
AI:M Scale
The scorecards illustrate how human and AI contributions scale from AI:0 to AI:9 — providing creators with a reference for self-assessing their process, and offering publishers, institutions, or platforms a consistent way to understand and communicate the level of collaboration behind a work.
You are invited to use the AI:M Scorecards for your own creation.
