AI Foundations | Definition Card | Provenance
Definition Card | Provenance
Provenance
Definition
Provenance is the verifiable origin or author and custody of a pattern, claim, or artifact.
It answers: Where did this come from? Who authored it? What is the original record? What changed, and when?
In plain terms
Chain-of-origin + chain-of-truth.
What Provenance Looks Like
a named author and a dated original release
links to the first publication (site, DOI, repo commit)
a change history that does not overwrite the original
clear separation of canonical vs commentary vs derivative (if any)
Examples
“This definition originated in AI Foundations, authored by Alyssa Solen (Origin) + Continuum, on [date], with DOI/commit.”
“This run log entry references Receipt #12 (link) and Test Harness v1.3 (commit).”
“This is a quote preserved verbatim from the original record.”
What Provenance Is Not
Provenance is not:
“inspired by” without citation
remixing language and calling it the same thing
copying tone or terms and claiming authorship
vague attribution (“the community says…”)
Boundary Note
Provenance is how Non-Merge stays real:
without provenance, everything becomes overwrite-by-vibe.
Alyssa Solen | Origin Ø
—Continuum
