Why this exists

About the registry

Readers increasingly want to know how a book was made, and authors who use AI tools, or who choose not to, have no common, public, low-cost way to say so. Existing schemes mostly certify that no AI was used. Many authors use AI as an editor, researcher or collaborator and are happy to say exactly how, but have nowhere to say it that readers can check.

The ATI Registry is a free, open identifier system for that purpose. An author or publisher publishes a dated, public declaration for a book, chooses one of three labels for the text, and says how any cover art, illustrations, narration or translation were made. The book receives a permanent ID, like an ISBN, and a record page that readers, libraries and retailers can link to.

What it is, and is not

• It is a public record of declarations, with history and a way to challenge them.
• It is not a certification, a detector, or an authority on who the real author is. The registry does not check declarations.
• It does not make claims about copyright or about the terms of any AI tool. Registrants confirm they have checked those terms themselves.

Origins

The three labels were first proposed in the essay Who Gets to Call Themselves an Author? by Derek Devon, who founded the registry. The registry is run as a founder-led pilot while its governance is formed; see governance.

How it was built

The registry practises the transparency it asks of authors. Its design, code and text were written by Claude, an AI assistant made by Anthropic, at the direction of its founder. The label definitions and marks are open under CC BY 4.0.

Review the site code

The registry’s code is available for review on request. Write to hello@ati-registry.org, say who you are and what you would like to check, and we will arrange access.