AI Influence Level has been a text label since 2023. A line at the bottom of a post saying how much of it I wrote and how much the AI did.
Text at the bottom is fine for disclosure. It's bad for glancing. So here's a mark.
Six badges, AIL 0 through AIL 5, one per level. Each links back to the framework.
Two zones. AIL is reversed out of a solid ink panel on the left, the way a film certificate card carries its issuing mark. The level and a five-segment rail sit in the tinted field beside it.
The rail is the part that makes it readable without a legend. Five segments, filled to the level. AIL 0 shows five empty ones, which is exactly the claim being made: no AI in it.
The ramp runs muted sage to dusty brick.
I wanted the progression to be obvious and the judgment to be absent. A bright green at 0 would read as a gold star, and a bright red at 5 would read as an accusation. Neither is what this measures. AIL 5 isn't a failing grade. It's a reading.
In the sidebar it sits under the tags at eighteen pixels tall, which is small enough to ignore and large enough to catch:
Add ail: N
to a post's frontmatter and the badge appears in the sidebar:
---
title: "Some Post"
tags: ai|future
ail: 3
---
Or drop one inline anywhere with <AilBadge level="3" />
.
The note at the bottom of each post stays where it's always been. The badge is the glance, the note is the explanation, and they say the same thing.