The Clowdr AI standard: own, verify, and account for the work

Clowdr permits deliberate AI-assisted production and deliberate non-use. Every Project Pitch must explain that choice in an AI Production Note. No contributor or task is required to use AI.

The publishing requirement is human ownership. A contributor must be able to explain and revise the work, establish its fit and provenance, verify it in context, support integration, and hand it off. Generated output that nobody can account for remains Unowned Output and cannot clear Craft Proof.

This article applies Clowdr policy. It does not report a published project passing the standard.

Put the decision in the pitch

State where AI assistance is allowed, where it is excluded, and why. Define the checks that allowed uses need: the human owner, verification, source and rights records, and any disclosure or attribution required for the intended destination.

Make the boundaries useful to contributors. “AI allowed” gives an audio contributor little guidance. “AI may assist cue exploration; proposed final audio needs an identified owner, source records, and an in-build review” names a decision the project can evaluate. This is an illustrative boundary, not a universal audio rule.

Review proposed final work in its discipline

Before accepting a contribution, the Lead and relevant craft reviewer need enough information to answer:

• Who owns the work and can change it after handoff?
• What sources or tools materially contributed, and what did the human decide or revise?
• What verification was performed in the integrated game, and what remains untested?
• Are provenance, rights, licenses, credits, and required disclosures accounted for?

The evidence depends on the work. Code needs behavior checks as well as an explanation of its integration. Art needs readability and coherence at gameplay size. Audio needs its intended trigger, mix, and transitions checked in the build. A polished isolated output does not answer those questions.

When reviewers disagree, pause acceptance and identify the disputed requirement. Test fit in context, inspect the source record, and record whether the work needs revision, stays temporary, or is cut. The Lead remains accountable for integration; craft and rights concerns must be resolved against the publishing standard.

Replace intent with an account of what happened

The Release Candidate carries a Final AI Production Note. Record actual use or deliberate non-use, material human decisions, verification performed, provenance and rights, required disclosures or attributions, and changes from the pitch.

A concise version accompanies every Clowdr Release. Detailed internal records may support Ownership Proof, but the public account must accurately describe the game being published.

How We Ship sets the full standard. The applications to engineering, creative direction, and audio show what contextual review asks of each discipline.