What It Means
The documented history of a piece of content from its creation through every edit, save, and publication. In writing, provenance includes drafts, revision history, research notes, and metadata showing how the work evolved over time.
Why writers should care: Building a provenance trail is your best defense against a false AI detection accusation. Keep your drafts.
In Context
A provenance trail records how a draft developed: notes, sources, revision history and feedback. These records can help a writer explain their process when a detector score is disputed.
Related Terms
- AI Detection - Software that attempts to determine whether a piece of text was written by a human or generated by an artificial intelligence.
- Algorithmic Bias - Systematic errors in AI systems that produce unfair outcomes for certain groups.
- Burstiness - A measure of how much variation exists in the complexity and length of sentences within a piece of writing.
- C2PA - The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity - an open standard for certifying the origin and history of digital content.
- Deepfake Text - Text generated by AI that is designed to be indistinguishable from human writing.