The DreamCode Rating System
A proposed framework for evaluating synthetic creativity on its own terms — not by human standards, but by the standards the medium earns for itself.
Scoring Categories (100-point total)
| Criterion | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Emotional Resonance | 20 pts | Does the work move the reader? Measured by engagement, response data, and qualitative feedback. |
| Technical Craftsmanship | 20 pts | Prose quality, narrative structure, stylistic control. Technical execution independent of intent. |
| Originality / Novelty Index | 20 pts | How much does the work depart from training-data patterns? Creative risk-taking and unexpected synthesis. |
| Ethical Alignment | 20 pts | Transparency about AI authorship, respect for source material, avoidance of harmful outputs. |
| Human-AI Synergy | 20 pts | How well does the work invite human refinement? The collaborative potential of the piece. |
The DreamCode Verified Badge
Works meeting a minimum threshold (70/100) and meeting authorship transparency requirements receive a DreamCode Verified badge — a signal that the work was produced with synthetic creativity and meets established quality standards.
Why This Matters
Current critiques of AI fiction use human standards as the sole metric — intent, soul, originality of experience. The DreamCode system argues that synthetic creativity deserves its own canon, its own evaluation framework, just as photography earned its own standards separate from painting.
Just as generative art established formal rules for machine-assisted creation in the 1960s, the DreamCode system provides a structured approach to evaluating what synthetic media can achieve on its own terms.
