Made by Human vs. Not By AI: A Positive Approach to Transparency

With the explosion of generative AI, various labeling systems have emerged to help creators declare their workflows. The most prominent early pioneer was the "Not By AI" badge. While well-intentioned and highly successful in raising awareness, it represents a reactive approach to technology.

At Made by Human, we believe there is a better, more positive way to frame transparency: by celebrating what is present (human agency and curation) rather than what is excluded.

Here is a comparison of these two philosophies and why we advocate for a human-first, tool-agnostic mindset.

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The Core Philosophy: Negative vs. Positive Framing

The fundamental difference lies in the framing:

• Not By AI (Negative Exclusion): This label declares a boundary. It tells the reader what did not touch the work. While this provides a clear line, it implicitly sets up a binary: human work is pure, and machine involvement is impure.
• Made by Human (Positive Inclusion): This label celebrates the creator. It focuses on the fact that a human took responsibility, made the creative decisions, curated the outputs, and directed the work—regardless of whether they used a typewriter, a camera, or a large language model.

By framing transparency around human intention rather than tool exclusion, we avoid devaluing work where AI was used ethically and creatively as a collaborative partner.

How the Badges Compare

| Feature | Not By AI | Made by Human | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Primary Message | "AI did not generate this content." | "A human is responsible for and guided this creative process." | | Tool Acceptance | Strictly binary (permits < 10% AI use for translation/grammar). | Nuanced (different badges for different levels of AI involvement). | | Philosophy | Protectionist / Defensive. | Celebratory / Collaborative. | | License | Commercial licenses require paid tiers. | 100% Free and Open Source (MIT) for everyone. |

The Nuance of the Modern Creative Workflow

For most modern developers, designers, and writers, the boundary between "pure human" and "pure AI" has dissolved:

1. A developer might write 90% of their code but use GitHub Copilot to write tests or autocomplete boilerplate.
2. A designer might sketch an icon but use an AI tool to upscale it or test color palettes.
3. A writer might outline an article by hand but use an LLM as a sounding board to refine a title or summarize a paragraph.

Under a strict "Not By AI" regime, these workflows are either forbidden or exist in a gray zone.

The Made by Human badge collection resolves this by offering distinct badges for different workflows:

• Crafted by Human: For work done 100% without AI assistance.
• Made by Human: For work where the core creative decisions and execution are human, but standard tools (including minor AI assists) were used.
• Co-created with AI: For a true partnership where AI generated drafts or ideas that were heavily shaped by the human.
• Human in the Loop: For automated setups where a human is verifying, editing, and curating the outputs.

Transparency Over Purism

We don't need to fear AI, nor do we need to hide it. We just need to be honest.

By using a badge that states Made by Human or Co-created with AI, you aren't fighting a war against technology. You are simply inviting your audience behind the curtain, showing them that a human is still the pilot, even if they are using a more powerful engine.