What is the Human-First AI Web Standard?

The Human-First AI Web Standard is an open initiative to make AI governance machine-readable and human-verifiable. Organizations publish ai.txt files declaring their AI stance, oversight policies, and refusal scenarios, similar to robots.txt for search engines.

How do I implement ai.txt?

Create a file at https://yoursite.com/ai.txt with key-value pairs declaring your stance (human-first, human-centered, or permissive), employment policy, oversight requirements, and refusal scenarios. Use our Python validator to check syntax and semantics.

Is this aligned with international AI frameworks?

Yes, the standard is aligned with UNESCO Ethics of AI, OECD AI Principles, NIST AI Risk Management Framework, EU AI Act, and Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI.

Human-First AI Web Standard

✅ Production-Ready Validator Available

What is this?

The Human-First AI Web Standard makes AI governance machine-readable and human-verifiable.

Organizations declare their AI stance using simple formats:

📝 ai.txt

Plain-text key-value format (like robots.txt)

🤖 llms.txt

LLM discovery metadata

🔗 JSON-LD

Semantic web integration

Core Principle

AI systems are tools that exist to augment human dignity, autonomy, and wellbeing. They must remain subordinate to human governance, human rights, and democratic values — and refuse uses that undermine them.

✨ What's New in v0.3

Formal ABNF Grammar - RFC-style specification
JSON Schema - Machine-validatable format
Python Validator - Production-ready tool with 11 unit tests
Controlled Vocabulary - All valid enum values defined

Quick Example

Create https://yoursite.com/ai.txt:

# ai.txt v0.2
stance: human-first
employment: augment-not-replace
oversight: mandatory

refusal-policy:
    - mass-surveillance
    - political-coercion

policy-url: https://yoursite.com/ai-policy/

🔧 Validate Your ai.txt

# Install dependencies
pip install requests jsonschema

# Validate local file
python tools/validator.py ai.txt

# Validate URL
python tools/validator.py https://yoursite.com/ai.txt

⚓ Show Your Support

Add the Human-First AI Badge to your website to show you support ethical AI governance!

Embed Code

<a href="https://hf-ai-web-standard-4f0e29.gitlab.io/" target="_blank">
  <img src="https://hf-ai-web-standard-4f0e29.gitlab.io/badges/concept-2-anchor-circle.png"
       alt="We support Human-First AI"
       width="64"
       height="64">
</a>

→ More Badge Sizes & Formats

📖 Read Full Documentation 💬 Give Feedback (RFC) 💡 Join Discussion

Aligned with International Standards

🇺🇳 UNESCO Ethics of AI • 🌍 OECD AI Principles • 🇺🇸 NIST AI RMF • 🇪🇺 EU AI Act • 🇪🇺 CoE Framework Convention

👤 About the Initiator

This standard was initiated by Guido Mitschke, a computer pioneer with 49 years of experience (1977-2026).

From mainframe programming to C64 home computers, developing healthcare software, and founding his own company — Guido has witnessed the complete evolution: Mainframe → Client/Server → Web → Cloud → AI.

Author of "The End of Clicks" (2026) and advocate for human-centered AI governance. Believes technology should serve people, not replace them.

LinkedIn | Website | Book

🙏 We Need Your Help

We're at Request for Comments stage! Community input is critical.

We especially welcome:

Policy Experts - AI ethics, governance, law
Technical Reviewers - Web standards, JSON-LD, parsers
Developers - Build validators, tools, integrations
Pilot Organizations - NGOs, universities, ethical startups

→ See Call for Participation