I started noticing disclaimers on articles posted on HN saying something along the lines of
This post was written by a human.
or
Written by a human, edited with AI.
or the converse
Drafted by AI, edited by a human.
A quick sweep for these disclaimers in HN-linked articles yields the chart below. It is probably incomplete (scraping the web has become painfully difficult) but that is not the point of this post. I still found it interesting enough to keep:
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First archived observations of authorship disclosures
-
- Month
- 2022-12-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- interconnected.blog
-
- Month
- 2023-02-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- blog.opencagedata.com
-
- Month
- 2023-02-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- thecleverest.com
-
- Month
- 2023-02-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.allhandsontech.com
-
- Month
- 2023-05-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- leonid.shevtsov.me
-
- Month
- 2024-10-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.trevorlasn.com
-
- Month
- 2024-11-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.trevorlasn.com
-
- Month
- 2025-02-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.frontiersin.org
-
- Month
- 2025-02-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.trevorlasn.com
-
- Month
- 2025-05-01
- Category
- AI help unspecified
- Article
- www.noahpinion.blog
-
- Month
- 2025-05-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-07-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.frontiersin.org
-
- Month
- 2025-08-01
- Category
- AI draft + human edit
- Article
- koreajoongangdaily.joins.com
-
- Month
- 2025-09-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- www.nibzard.com
-
- Month
- 2025-10-01
- Category
- AI draft + human edit
- Article
- koreajoongangdaily.joins.com
-
- Month
- 2025-11-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- jstrieb.github.io
-
- Month
- 2025-11-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- pwnforfunandprofit.substack.com
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- hackers.pub
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.sciencenews.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2025-12-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- xania.org
-
- Month
- 2026-01-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- jaisenmathai.com
-
- Month
- 2026-01-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- mitchellh.com
-
- Month
- 2026-02-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- brandonli.net
-
- Month
- 2026-02-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- jmail.world
-
- Month
- 2026-02-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- simonwillison.net
-
- Month
- 2026-03-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- botonomous.ai
-
- Month
- 2026-03-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- mufeedvh.com
-
- Month
- 2026-03-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- terts.dev
-
- Month
- 2026-03-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- the-prompt-i-cannot-read-ee16d7.gitlab.io
-
- Month
- 2026-03-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.dein.fr
-
- Month
- 2026-03-01
- Category
- AI help unspecified
- Article
- www.itsthatlady.dev
-
- Month
- 2026-03-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.righto.com
-
- Month
- 2026-03-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.sciencenews.org
-
- Month
- 2026-04-01
- Category
- AI help unspecified
- Article
- consultwithgriff.com
-
- Month
- 2026-04-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- judoscale.com
-
- Month
- 2026-05-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- blogsystem5.substack.com
-
- Month
- 2026-05-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- g5t.de
-
- Month
- 2026-05-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-05-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.davidrevoy.com
-
- Month
- 2026-05-01
- Category
- AI draft + human edit
- Article
- www.invenglobal.com
-
- Month
- 2026-05-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.righto.com
-
- Month
- 2026-05-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.righto.com
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- austinhenley.com
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- blog.langworth.com
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- docs.pytorch.org
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- grack.com
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- grack.com
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- louwrentius.com
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- mliezun.github.io
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- prahladyeri.github.io
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- truths-and-loves.ghost.io
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.righto.com
-
- Month
- 2026-06-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.sciencenews.org
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- admiralcloudberg.medium.com
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- AI draft + human edit
- Article
- blog.jetbrains.com
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- danielmiessler.com
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- danielmiessler.com
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- ekinertac.com
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- freddiedeboer.substack.com
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- localghost.dev
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- localghost.dev
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- localghost.dev
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- rootkitlabs.com
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- scrapfly.dev
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- tensor4all.org
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- AI draft + human edit
- Article
- www.koreajoongangdaily.com
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.n16f.net
-
- Month
- 2026-07-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.n16f.net
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- changelog.complete.org
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- decodingvibes.com
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- erictopol.substack.com
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- AI draft + human edit
- Article
- github.com
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- ma.ttias.be
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- Human + AI tools
- Article
- michael.stapelberg.ch
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- AI-generated/assisted
- Article
- muchmirul.github.io
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- AI help unspecified
- Article
- rwwgreene.substack.com
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.autodidacts.io
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- AI help unspecified
- Article
- www.greyblake.com
-
- Month
- 2026-08-01
- Category
- Human-written
- Article
- www.righto.com
At one point I thought about adding such a disclaimer to my own texts as well. I thought it would make them feel more genuine. That it would show I had put in time and effort, and that I care. I felt the need to prove that the text was the result of my own thoughts, ideas, and creativity.
In the end, I never added such a disclaimer anywhere because the quality of a post should matter more than how it came to be. And attentive readers will know the difference between a text produced by someone who cared about the outcome and one produced by someone who did not.
Knowing how a text came to be does not impact its quality, so why should it matter?
For me, the perceived value of a text changes once I know whether it was written by AI or by a human.
I do not want to read a book written by AI. Besides the fact that I do not believe AI is at the level of writing whole, quality novels - not to say that this will never happen - I have an appreciation for the work a human puts into writing a book. Generating text from a prompt does not require the same kind of skill.
However, I am fine with an AI-written README.md.
The difference is expectation. When I read a README, I want correct information. I do not care who wrote it. But when I read an essay or a book, I assume there is a person behind the words.
This topic feels similar to asking whether AI “art” can be considered art. What makes art valuable? Is it the final object, or also the process that created it? In that sense, adding a “human” disclaimer to a post might increase its value for some readers by showing that a human put in the effort.