The scale
No level ranks above another. A scale that ranks its own levels is a shame ladder, and everyone lies their way down it. The only dishonest level is an undeclared one.
It measures
The role artificial intelligence played in making the work: whose substance it is, and who is accountable for it.
It refuses to measure
The proportion of characters, pixels, or samples emitted by a model. That number condemns the expert who dictates thirty years of practice and absolves nobody.
No generative AI was used.
No generative AI was involved at any stage of making this work. Non-generative tools — spellcheck, autocorrect, autofocus, noise reduction, search engines, calculators, colour grading, compilers — are not generative AI and do not affect this level.
For instance An essay written and revised by hand.
AI worked only on material you had already made. It invented nothing.
You made the work. AI only processed your material, or helped behind the scenes: correcting, faithfully transcribing or translating, cleaning, tagging, formatting, searching, or giving feedback. Except for a faithful transcription or translation of your material, no model-produced material appears in the published work.
For instance An article you wrote, run through a model for grammar.
You made most of the final form. AI made parts of it that stayed.
The work is yours in structure and in most of its execution, but material a model produced survives in the published result: passages, elements, variations you chose between. You wrote, drew, or played the majority of what the audience receives.
For instance An essay you outlined and largely wrote, with two AI-drafted paragraphs you reworked.
The substance is yours. AI produced the form.
The work-specific knowledge, evidence, argument, composition, or constraints are yours and materially determine the result. A model produced most of the final words, pixels, or sound from those original inputs. You directed, chose, corrected, meaningfully reviewed, and are accountable for the result. Writing or refining a prompt is not enough by itself.
For instance A surgeon dictates thirty years of practice; a model writes the article; the surgeon corrects and signs it.
AI produced the substance and the form. You asked, you checked, you are accountable.
A model produced both what the work says and how it says it, from a prompt, template, or brief that carried little original, work-specific substance of your own. A human meaningfully reviewed the finished work, checked material claims where necessary, and takes responsibility for publishing it.
For instance "Write ten posts about diabetes" — read, corrected, published.
AI produced the substance and the form. No human read it before it was published.
A model produced the work and it was published without human review. This is the honest level for automated pipelines, bulk generation, and agents that publish on their own. It is the right answer for a great deal of legitimate work — and stating it is what makes that work legitimate.
For instance An hourly market summary generated and posted by a script.