AIEF
AI Execution Framework
An open framework for verifiable AI execution evidence.
Version 0.2.5 · Public Comment
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Short answers about verifiable AI, AIEF execution artifacts, and how they relate to audits, agent identity, and conformance.

What is AIEF?
AIEF (AI Execution Framework) is an open specification for verifiable AI execution evidence — tamper-evident records of AI decisions that can be verified deterministically, independently of the system that produced them.
What is verifiable AI?
Verifiable AI means a third party can confirm what an AI system actually decided and on what inputs, using a structured execution artifact whose integrity is checked deterministically. AIEF defines the minimum contents and verification rules for such an artifact.
How is AIEF different from AI observability or logging?
Logs and traces are operational telemetry produced and held by the same system being audited. AIEF artifacts are designed as evidence: their protected fields are tamper-evident, the verification rules are public, and any compliant verifier can check them.
Does AIEF require deterministic AI models?
No. AIEF treats the recorded output of the model as authoritative for the artifact. It verifies that the recorded decision has not been modified since issuance — not that the model itself is deterministic.
How can merchants verify AI agent identity during checkout?
Merchants accepting payments or actions from autonomous AI agents can require a signed AIEF execution artifact for each agent action. The artifact records who issued the decision, the inputs it acted on, and a tamper-evident hash chain. See the agent identity guide for the end-to-end pattern.
What are AIEF conformance levels?
AIEF defines conformance levels (L1, L2, L3) that describe progressively stronger guarantees about artifact integrity and stability. Level 2 and Level 3 are appropriate for production evidence used in audits or disputes.
Where is the canonical AIEF specification?
The canonical source is the AIEF repository on GitHub (github.com/artnames/AIEF). This site renders each released version at a stable URL under /spec/<version>.
Is AIEF a governance, safety, or fairness framework?
No. AIEF is an evidence framework. It does not govern model behaviour, fairness, alignment, or correctness — it specifies how a decision record can be produced and verified.