Dubai Launches Human-Machine Icons To Identify Human and AI Content

In an important step toward transparency in the digital age, Dubai has unveiled the world’s first Human–Machine Collaboration Icon System, which makes it easier to show how much of a project or publication was created by humans and how much was machine-generated.

The announcement was made by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister. The icon system was developed by the Dubai Future Foundation and is intended to offer clarity in a world where it is increasingly difficult to identify if something is created by a human or machine.

Why This System Was Needed

Because of AI tools increasingly being used for research, writing, visuals, and writing academic pieces, often people won’t even know what is “human-made”. Sheikh Hamdan mentioned the increasing machine-made blur between creative and scientific work, indicating that it is time for a new system that reflects that growth. Additionally, he mandated that all Dubai government departments use the icons immediately in all content creation and research, intending to lead by example and inspire others

The 5 Main Icons in the System

This new system outlines five main icons that convey the extent of machine involvement:

• All Human–Content was created via all human input.
• Human-Led – Human created the content, and the machine assisted with some checks or improvements.
• Machine-Assisted – Content was created with a combination of human and machine input.
• Machine-Led – Content was created with humanoid input to check for quality; the machine created most of the content.
• All Machine – Content created fully by a machine with no human input.

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9 Sub-Icons to Show Where Machines Were Involved

Beyond the main icons, the system also offers nine function-based icons to show where AI was used. The list of the nine includes:

1. Ideation
2. Literature Review
3. Data Collection
4. Data Analysis
5. Data Interpretation
6. Writing
7. Translation
8. Visuals
9. Design

So, in a research paper, for example, it could show that AI was involved only in the “data analysis” or “visual design,” even though the rest of it was done by a human.

Nimble and Future-Friendly 

The icon system is designed to function for all types of content, whether it’s academic writing; video; images; or creative works.The system does not give a certain ratio of human to machine content, it recommends content creators are clear and open about how they work with AI.