Five gradients to show how much AI models are part of a piece of work, a project, a task or a simple text. On this site you can also change these badges. You can choose a context, for example teaching, with a different version for each kind of study. You can also change how they look: their colours, weight and size.
[Gradient AI · Level 1 · On your own (no AI)](https://getgradient.it/en/#livello-1)
For the person who does the work (Profile: General, change)
Do not use AI tools at any step. This includes checking, summing up or translating. If you think a step needs AI, ask first.
Gradient 2Ideas
Ideas
AI can help only before the real work starts: to find ideas, to plan the structure, to learn about a new subject. The person writes and makes the final work.
Examples
Ideas for an offer, a proposal or a new concept.
A plan for a report or a talk.
A first look at a market, a law or a new subject. Check everything after.
[Gradient AI · Level 2 · Ideas](https://getgradient.it/en/#livello-2)
For the person who does the work (Profile: General, change)
You can use AI to find ideas, to plan and to do first research. You make and write the final work yourself. Check every fact in a trusted source.
Gradient 3Working together
Working together
AI can help to make the work: first drafts, changes, comments, final touches. The person checks, corrects and adds to everything the AI gives. They are responsible for all of it.
Examples
Texts, emails and documents written with an AI assistant, then checked.
Code written with an AI assistant, then reviewed and tested.
Translations or summaries made by AI, then checked against the original.
[Gradient AI · Level 3 · Working together](https://getgradient.it/en/#livello-3)
For the person who does the work (Profile: General, change)
You can use AI for some clear parts of the work, like a first draft, a review or a check. Read, correct and complete everything it makes. You are responsible for the result. Say where you used AI.
Gradient 4Directing
Directing
AI can be used for any part of the work, or the work needs AI. The value is in the direction: clear goals, exact instructions, quality checks and good reasons for each choice.
Examples
Data or documents studied with AI agents, with spot checks.
A first version of a product or service made with AI tools.
Many texts or images made with AI, following clear style rules.
[Gradient AI · Level 4 · Directing](https://getgradient.it/en/#livello-4)
For the person who does the work (Profile: General, change)
You can use AI a lot. What matters is how you lead it to the goal, how you check the results and how you explain your choices. Keep notes on how you worked.
Gradient 5Exploring
Exploring
AI is the heart of the work. People try new ways to use it: to solve problems, to find new ideas or to build new solutions. The client and the team agree on the goals and the method together.
Examples
A small test project to bring AI into a way of working.
[Gradient AI · Level 5 · Exploring](https://getgradient.it/en/#livello-5)
For the person who does the work (Profile: General, change)
Use AI in creative and new ways. Suggest new ideas, agree on them with the client, and write down what works and what does not.
How to use the badges
There are four ways, from the easiest to the most flexible. The examples use level 3 and link to its part of this page. Shape, colours and weight follow your choices in the panel above.
A fixed copy, or always up to date?
Downloaded files (SVG, PNG): they are your own copy. They do not change.
Codes on this page (PNG image, SVG file, JavaScript): they are linked to the version in the address. Today this is version 0.8.2. You keep seeing this version when the project changes, until you change the number.
This website always shows the latest version. The text with a link brings people here, to the latest version of the level.
If you need to state a level in a way that does not change, for example in a contract, a task or a call for projects, use a downloaded file or one of the codes below.
1. Text only, with a link
For documents, emails, learning platforms and websites: one line that gives the level and links to it. The button “Copy text with link” under each level copies this line for you. In Word, Google Docs or an email, the link still works when you paste it.
In HTML:
2. PNG image
For slides, documents and platforms that only take images. Each stamp comes at 128 and 512 px (pictogram: 64 and 256; label: 48 and 192 px high), as an outline or filled.
You mark the place with an attribute, and the library draws the badge, with the colours and weight you want.
Options: variant (stamp, icon, label) · lang (en or it) · color · from/to (a gradient in five steps) · palette (five colours) · weight (1–3) · filled · size (px) · link (by default the badge links to its level on this site; false removes the link, or give the address of a profile). To get only the SVG text: GradientAI.toSvg(3, {variant: 'stamp', lang: 'en'}).
Notes on use
The general profile takes a scale made for schools and universities and uses it for work. This is our own addition. It is not part of the original AIAS.
The levels do not say how good the work is. They only say how much AI is part of it, and how.
Agree on the level before the work starts. Write it down, for example in a brief, a contract or a team rule. Also agree on what people must report, and who is responsible for the result.
You can only be sure of level 1 when you can see how the work is done. At other levels you trust what people tell you. It helps to ask them to keep notes on how they worked.
You can share, translate and change the texts, and change the colours of the badges.
You must name the authors and the source, say what you changed, and share your new version with the same licence.
You cannot use the texts to make money.
Code: MIT
The JavaScript library, the tools and the website code have the MIT licence. You can use them and change them, also to make money. You only need to keep the copyright notice. The badges that the library draws keep the CC BY-NC-SA licence.
The name
The licences are about copyright, not about the name. If you use the levels and badges in your work, call them “Gradient AI”. Do not give this name to your own product or project, and do not make people think the author approves or supports you.
How to give credit
Full credit
For a colophon, or when you use the icons and remove the credit line yourself.
Gradient AI, levels of AI use (getgradient.it); a project by F. Zaccaria; texts taken from the AIAS v2 (2024) by Perkins, Furze, Roe, MacVaugh and rewritten (licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); code: MIT licence; icons: Lucide (ISC licence).
Perkins, M., Furze, L., Roe, J., & MacVaugh, J. (2024). The Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale (AIAS): A framework for ethical integration of generative AI in educational assessment. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 21(6). open-publishing.org
Perkins, M., Roe, J., & Furze, L. (2024). The AI Assessment Scale revisited: A framework for educational assessment. arXiv, 2412.09029. arxiv.org
Furze, L. (2024, September 2). AIAS: Why we’ve driven through the traffic lights. Leon Furze. leonfurze.com — why the AIAS stopped using traffic light colours: they made some levels look better than others.
Website: Space Grotesk (SIL Open Font License). The SVG and PNG files use a system font.
Parts of the website
Cookie banner: CookieConsent 3.1.0 by Orest Bida (MIT licence). Light/dark switch from masterismi.dev (Quark 2 theme), sun and moon icons by Iconoir (MIT licence).
How this project used AI
Content
The author made the adaptation and the main choices: the names of the levels, the profiles, and the focus on work and on teaching. The texts were written together with AI (Claude), following the author's directions. The author reads, corrects and checks them against the AIAS v2.
Colours
AI suggested a first set of ten colours and made a tool to adjust them. It also measured the contrast and the difference between the colours. The author chose the direction and adjusted the colours by eye. AI chose some of the final colours, following the author's directions.
Website, code and design
The website, the JavaScript library, the build tools, the badges and the GitHub repository were made with Claude Code. The author set the goals and the design choices, and checked and tested the result.
How to take part
Share how you use it with the project
Do you use Gradient AI? You can help us see if the levels work, in three steps:
I send them to you by email, in English or in Italian.
You answer the first one before the work starts and the second one when the work is finished. The third one is anonymous and takes less than two minutes: you send it to the people who receive the work, like students, clients or readers.
Gradient AI can be studied in real use. For example: how teachers, students and clients read the levels, if the levels help people say how they used AI, and where the line between two levels is not clear. Do you work at a university, a department or a research centre? Do you want to host research on this? The author is open to working with you: a research grant, a visiting fellowship or a joint research project.
