AI Usage Policy

Purpose

Pivity distributes human-built software products. AI may assist development, but it cannot replace the creator’s role in building, structuring, and supporting the system.

Customers are paying for practical skill, system structure, maintainability, and accountability - not raw generated output.

Products that cannot stand on their own without AI do not qualify for our platform.

Scope

This policy applies to:

1. All code products
2. Supporting assets (templates, scripts, configs, materials, models)
3. Documentation (including submission tickets)
4. Marketing visuals / product pages tied to a product
5. Updates and revisions

Guiding Principle

AI is a tool.

It is not your:

1. Architect
2. Designer
3. QA
4. Support
5. Maintainer

Products must reflect sustained technical competence; as such the author must possess the ability to understand, evolve, and repair the system independently of any AI tool.

If the human capability to maintain the system long-term is missing, the product does not qualify for this marketplace.

Authors must be able to maintain their product across version changes, dependency updates, bug reports, and evolving requirements without relying on AI to reinterpret or regenerate core functionality.

What Is NOT Allowed

Products will be rejected or removed if any of the following apply:

AI as the Primary Author

1. Prompt > Output > Upload workflows
2. Products with no meanginful technical decisions made
3. You should be able to state why given modules, storage systems, dependencies or techniques were selected, used and implemented.
4. Codebases where architectural decisions cannot be justified by the author

Non-Supportable Products

If you cannot:

1. Explain how your system works
2. Debug issues yourself
3. Modify or extend the system manually
4. Perform upgrades when dependencies change
5. Diagnose performance or security issues
6. Maintain the codebase over time without relying on AI to reinterpret it

Your product is not fit for this marketplace.

Marketplace products must be supportable long-term; being or becoming unmaintainable without re-prompting an AI model to explain or rewrite it cannot meet our standards.

Structural Issues

Submissions must not resemble raw or unstructured generated output such as:

1. Flat file dumps
2. No separation of concerns (singular megafiles)
3. No dependency strategy
4. No naming conventions
5. No defined structure or patterns

Low Quality Visual Assets

UI, logos, banners, and other graphics must meet professional standards.

Disallowed assets include:

1. AI image spam
2. Distorted or incoherent visuals
3. Inconsistent styles across assets
4. Placeholder-quality graphics
5. "MS Paint banner" level presentation (see Frequently Used Denial Reasons)

Prompt Artifacts

Disallowed artifacts include:

1. Prompts included as documentation
2. AI chat logs presented as technical explanation
3. Using AI tools as justification for poor quality
4. Shipping code with embedded prompt remnants or generation artifacts

What IS Allowed

AI may be used as a supporting tool, not a replacement for development skill.

Acceptable examples of use include:

1. Autocomplete assistance
2. Suggestions for refactor
3. Scaffolding for tests
4. Boilerplate generation followed by proper implementation
5. Syntax conversion
6. Suggestions for performance improvements (so long as they are validated)
7. Drafting of documentation (so long as it is then reviewed)

If removing AI would prevent you from maintaining the product, it is not compliant.

Acceptable AI use should result in higher quality work, not faster low-effort production.

Mandatory AI Disclosure

Every product which has used AI tools must include an AI Disclosure section.

The disclosure must be clearly visible and placed in one of the following acceptable locations:

1. In a dedicated "AI Disclosure" tab
2. In a collapsible section clearly labeled "AI Disclosure"
3. At the top of another clearly defined tab (e.g., Credits)
4. Where a reasonable person would expect to find a disclosure.
5. At the beginning of the main product description

The disclosure must not be buried, obscured, or placed at the end of long-form content in a way that reduces visibility (e.g., hidden after a 2000-word description).

This disclosure must clearly state where AI was used (for example, used in generating tests, refactoring, drafting documentation).

Failure to properly and visibly disclose AI usage may result in submission rejection or product removal.

Attempting to conceal AI usage through placement or formatting will be treated as a deliberate policy violation.

Code Design Requirements

AI use does not excuse poor structure.

All products must demonstrate:

1. Clear system structure
2. Modular organization
3. Logical file breakdown
4. Consistent naming
5. Well-managed dependencies (where applicable)
6. Readable documentation (where included)
7. Basic security practices

Design & Visual Standards

Visual assets must be internally consistent, and not resemble raw AI outputs.

Content that appears unrefined, inconsistent, or mass-generated will be rejected under the same standards used for low-effort visual presentation (e.g., "MS Paint banner" level quality).

Reviewing

Where systems appear AI generated, we may:

1. Request clarification about how systems work
2. Ask authors to explain design decisions
3. Request explanation of architectural tradeoffs
4. Ask how the system would be maintained
5. Reject products that appear mass-generated

Enforcement

Violations may result in:

1. Submission Rejection
2. Product Removal
3. Submission Restrictions
4. Bans for repeated or deceptive violations