- Developed by the Dubai Future Foundation, the system marks a global first that is designed to enhance transparency in research and content production
- The system introduces 5 primary classifications indicating human–machine collaboration and 9 icons that suggest the point at which the interaction occurred during a process
- His Highness directs Dubai Government entities to start adopting the system in their research and knowledge-based endeavours

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation, today approved the launch of a global classification system that enables in differentiating between the role of humans and machines in the research, production, and publication of creative, scientific, academic, and intellectual content.

His Highness said: “Distinguishing between human creativity and artificial intelligence has become a real challenge in light of today’s rapid technological advances. This calls for a new approach to recognise the growing role of intelligent machines. That’s why we launched the world’s first Human–Machine Collaboration Icons, a classification system that brings transparency to how research documents, publications, and content are created.

“We invite researchers, writers, publishers, designers, and content creators around the world to adopt this new global classification system and use it responsibly and in ways that benefit people,” His Highness added.

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan directed all Dubai Government entities to start adopting the system in their research and knowledge-based endeavours.

The Human–Machine Collaboration (HMC) classification system, developed by the Dubai Future Foundation, is designed to enhance transparency in research and content production. It offers a visual representation that enables readers, researchers, and decision-makers to understand how much of a given output was shaped by intelligent machines, across fields such as research, design, and publishing. Such fields are increasingly becoming reliant on machines and automation technologies.

The classification defines ‘intelligent machines’ as a broad category encompassing various digital technologies, including algorithms, automation tools, generative AI models, and robotics, or any technological system that plays a role in the research or content creation process.

Five primary classifications
The HMC system introduces five primary icons that indicate the extent of collaboration between humans and intelligent machines:
All Human: Content is fully produced by a human with no machine involvement.

Human led: Human-produced content enhanced or checked by machine for accuracy, correction, or improvement.
Machine assisted: Humans and machines worked together iteratively to produce content.

Machine led: Machine took the lead in producing the content, with humans verifying quality and accuracy.
All Machine: Content was entirely generated by machine with no human input.

Sub-classifications by function
In addition to the five primary icons, the system also includes nine functional icons that indicate where in the process human–machine collaboration occurred. These cover ideation, literature review, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, writing, translation, visuals, and design.

The icon system is designed to be flexible and adaptable across sectors, industries, and content formats, including image and video outputs. While it does not assign percentages or exact weights to the contribution of machine, it enables creators to disclose involvement transparently, acknowledging that evaluation often relies on personal judgement.

To explore how to use the HMC icons and download the classification system, visit: www.dubaifuture.ae/hmc