# Proudly Human: Full Content > This document contains the complete text content of proudlyhuman.org for AI ingestion. For a summary index, see /llms.txt. --- ## About Proudly Human Proudly Human is a certification body that verifies and certifies creative works as human-authored. We are pro-human, not anti-AI. We believe people deserve to know whether content was created by a human or generated by AI. AI is increasingly masquerading as human. This is apparent in publishing (books, scientific journals) and alarming in music. Proudly Human exists so that creators can prove their work is genuinely human-made, and so that consumers can make informed choices. Proudly Human is an initiative of 23 First Corporation, founded by Dr. Alan Finkel AC (former Chief Scientist of Australia and Chancellor of Monash University) and Trevor Woods. ### How It Works 1. **Apply**: Create an account and submit your work (manuscript or audio) for certification. 2. **Verification**: We use a combination of methods to determine human authorship, including matching the applicant name to the author, secure payment verification, legal declaration, and a suite of AI detection tools. 3. **Certification**: If your work passes verification, you receive a ProudlyHuman™ certificate and license to use the ProudlyHuman™ certification mark. ### Certification Types - **Books (Manuscripts)**: Authors submit their publication-ready text for verification. - **Music (Audio)**: Musicians submit their audio files for verification. ### Pricing The application fee to certify a book is US$60. Automatic conversion to other currencies is available at payment. The application fee applies to the lifetime certification of the work. --- ## De Minimis AI Use Policy The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a research assistant is permitted for creators of ProudlyHuman™ certified works. For example, you may use AI to search for facts, summarize ideas, analyze data, generate ideas or outlines, or suggest directions for further development. AI must not be used for the generation of non-trivial content that is directly incorporated into the final work. All creative expression and authorship must remain the original contribution of the human creators. Specifically, your use of AI must be limited to de minimis levels. That is, uses so minor or mechanical that they do not affect the copyrightable authorship of your work and, in practical terms, do not alter its human-created nature. ### Acceptable De Minimis AI Use - Checking spelling and grammar - Generating ideas, prompts, outlines, or high-level story concepts - Producing short phrases, titles, captions, or other non-copyrightable text - Formatting assistance such as creating a table of contents or index, formatting the bibliography, or applying styles - Technical tasks such as sharpening an image, colour correction, noise reduction, or blurring faces in video ### Unacceptable AI Use (Beyond De Minimis) - Using AI to draft substantial portions of text (e.g., paragraphs or a chapter) - AI-generated design elements or creative content that meaningfully contributes to the final work - AI-generated material that would be copyrightable if created by a human - AI-generated visual art, illustrations, special effects, or imagery - AI-generated musical compositions, arrangements, or lyrics --- ## Our Commitment to Authors At Proudly Human we recognize that your manuscript is a piece of your heart and soul laid bare after years of courage, doubt, and relentless honesty. Every page carries the weight of what it cost you to write it, and we promise to treat it with the utmost care and respect. Proudly Human certifies your work as human-authored by reviewing your manuscript. This is limited to initial verification of human authorship followed by post-publication integrity checks based on eBook version comparisons to confirm that there are no fundamental changes. We will never use your work for AI training or any purpose other than verification of human authorship. Our commitments: 1. We require access to your manuscript for an initial authenticity check to verify it qualifies as human-authored under our standards. 2. We will never use your text, or any derivative or excerpt, for training, fine-tuning, or improving any artificial intelligence model, whether internal, third-party, or future-developed. 3. We will never generate summaries, edits, derivative works, marketing copy, or any other content based on your publication ready text. 4. We will never share your manuscript with any third party except under non-disclosure agreements for anonymized verification, and only as necessary for the certification process. 5. If your book passes verification, we issue a license for you to use the ProudlyHuman™ certification mark; this grants no ownership or further rights over your work to us. 6. You may withdraw your submission and request destruction of your manuscript and any temporary files at any time before certification is finalized, or request deletion post-certification with revocation of the mark if desired. 7. If your application is approved and you receive certification, your manuscript will be stored securely for five years with access restricted to two employees of Proudly Human. This is to ensure that any controversy regarding authorship can be fully investigated using the text of the book at the time of approval. 8. Post-publication, we conduct periodic integrity checks to confirm the published version closely matches the verified original; for eBook publications, we require access to the eBook file for a comparison. These checks ensure no fundamental changes such as AI rewrites or substantial alterations have occurred, protecting the integrity of your human-authored certification. 9. If your application is not approved, then the text will be stored for six months prior to being securely deleted. This is to assist you should you want to appeal the outcome of the application. Trevor Woods, CEO, Proudly Human --- ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How much does the application for ProudlyHuman™ certification cost? The application fee to certify a book is US$60. Automatic conversion to other currencies is available at payment. The application fee applies to the lifetime certification of your work. ### How does ProudlyHuman™ verify that I wrote my book, and AI didn't? We use a combination of methods to determine human authorship including matching the applicant name to the book author, a one-time government-ID check via our partner Persona, secure credit card payment, legal declaration, and AI detection tools. ### How does the identity check work? Non-thesis ProudlyHuman™ applications include a one-time identity check handled by our partner Persona. You upload a government-issued ID directly to Persona; only the verification outcome is shared with Proudly Human. ### Is any AI involvement permitted? Permitted AI involvement is limited to de minimis uses - uses so minor or mechanical that they do not affect the copyrightable authorship of your work. ### Do you use AI to determine if books are human-authored or AI-generated? Yes, multiple industry-leading AI detection tools are used in combination with our own approach. This is proprietary to minimise the potential for fraud. ### Is it hypocritical to use AI to verify something is human-created? Not at all. We aren't anti-AI. We are pro-human. We acknowledge that AI has a place in the world and people may want to use AI for many things. We believe that people should be informed so they can make a choice about whether they want human-created content and services or AI-generated content and services. ### What do you do with the manuscript that I upload? We treat your manuscript with the utmost respect. Your work will never be used for AI training or shared with third parties. ### Will my manuscript be stored by any other organization or service? No. ### Will my manuscript be used to teach AI and Large Language Models (LLMs)? No. ### I actually wrote my book and the ProudlyHuman™ certification process determined AI usage. Is there an appeals process? Yes. You can appeal the decision in the dashboard after logging in. ### Why are books published prior to 2022 grandfathered as ProudlyHuman™? Books published before 2022 are automatically eligible for certification because generative AI was not advanced enough to create meaningful works that could be confused with human-authored text. --- ## Leadership ### Dr. Alan Finkel AC, Founder and Executive Chairman ### Trevor Woods, Founding CEO Trevor was a senior executive at top-50 and top-100 global universities in Australia and Canada where his responsibilities included technology and digital. He drove innovation and led large teams in global operations exceeding $3.5 billion. Trevor has led, participated in, and supported research projects; taught; and is a respected conference and event presenter. ### Alexander Gow, Managing Director, North America Alex is an award-winning songwriter and journalist. He received multiple ARIA nominations and won Best Adult Contemporary Album in 2015. He later served as Head of Audio at The Australian Financial Review, producing The Fin podcast, Walkley-award winning reporting, and writing on music, creativity, and artificial intelligence. ### Leo Faber III, Head of Partnerships & Industry Engagement Leo is a film and television producer with more than 25 years’ experience. He has produced, directed and written hundreds of hours of programming for the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery, Channel 4 and ITV. He previously served as Executive Producer in Factual and Culture at the ABC, Head of Content at Red Bull Media House Australia, and launched the VR collective BADFAITH, with work selected for Sundance, Berlin and Cannes. ### Belinda Hayes, Global Head of Communications and Media Belinda is a senior communications executive with experience building reputations for global organizations including Monash University and government. She has led communications strategies across digital transformation, social media and AI, and has a background in editing and the publishing industry. ### Evan Woods, CTO Evan transitioned from developing advanced machine learning and AI models for image analysis to enterprise-scale web development at a Fortune 500 company. Following his contribution to major government and corporate initiatives, Evan founded a global software consulting agency, delivering technical solutions in sectors such as property, hospitality, logistics, charities, recruitment, and health. ### Max Keable, Principal Engineer Max established his technical reputation as a teenager by developing a proprietary epilepsy detection device that was acquired by a global health organization and remains in commercial production. After completing his training at the University of Sydney, Max transitioned from an intern to leading a team of 25 engineers at a top-tier app development agency within a single year. --- ## Pre-2022 Books Books published before 2022 are automatically eligible for ProudlyHuman™ certification because generative AI was not advanced enough at that time to create meaningful works that could be confused with human-authored text. --- ## Contact - Email: support@proudlyhuman.org - Parent organization: 23 First Corporation (23first.org) - Proudly Human Day: phday.org, the annual celebration of human creativity on 23 February