Feel free to adapt the following statement for your own brand or website:
Example of an Authenticity Statement
As _________, our/my mission is to _____/always been supportive of ________. It is my understanding that the digital media world has been flooded with artificial intelligence, also referred to as AI, reductive and regurgitative content at the cost of humans’ living conditions effectively detrimental both workwise and in personal application. Without proper human-led proofreading protections, we, humanity, are susceptible to erroneous data that used to be parsed through, filtered, and quantified with outside sources before direct application. We know this is not the case anymore. While Wikipedia has earned its repute for being a valuable archive and finally allowed as a source academically, we are also in a later era where the ease of uploading information with the correct metadata pushes anything to the forefront; algorithms are ahead of human review and this is costly. A child can make an offhand comment on any social media and earn enough likes or upvotes to influence masses of vulnerable minds (ie, a first time Internet user such as an immigrant or a child, later Internet users like those released from a prison sentence, etc). This was an example of a more innocent scenario—imagine the worst example of malicious words sprouting around. Multiply that by scripted bots. We as a society need to enforce media literacy, beginning at a young age, and adapt public campaigns towards true, human-led content to avoid misuse of the Internet and enforce social trust.
An authenticity statement is a promise to readers and future customers that the content they are consuming was created, crafted, and finalized by a human or human team without seeking the assistance of AI (artificial intelligence). This is a value towards our talented human friends who make a living through projects. It’s a commitment to lived experiences from first or secondhand accounts. Quality work > PPC
We still owe garment workers respect for “machinemade” clothes. How many levels of respect are we capable of letting slip through? (Don’t reread that last sentence.)
Catsup’s in-house illustrator jessika cesilia is working on an SVG badge that, upon display, will tell readers immediately that the content shared is 100% original, humanmade with no AI assistance sought out. I hope to see similar proofs of authenticity or commitments to originality in websites.
Does it pass the Bechdel test? Idk, does it have an authenticity statement?
Seeking suggestions! Comment or email your feedback.
Possible terminology for the badge:
100% humanmade
created by a human
crafted by a human
nutrition facts: 100% human
human, please
jobs for humans
humans / robots
people / profit
i stand by freelancers
i keep my robot in my pants (okay this one’s a phone joke)
??
Possible designs:
Heart shaped human head
??
Also: Media literacy should be a public school mandate.
I may include a disclaimer at the bottom of every post and in my footer.
