🏆Community Roles & Levels
At PublicAI, quality data doesn't happen by accident—it happens because real people care about getting it right. Our community roles form the backbone of the Human Layer, ensuring every voice recording, every validation, and every dispute resolution maintains the integrity that makes our data valuable. These roles represent real responsibility, real trust, and real impact on the AI models being trained with our data.
👶 Newbies
Finding Your Way
Newbies are fresh contributors taking their first steps into PublicAI. They're learning the ropes, understanding quality standards, and proving they're here to contribute—not just to farm.
The Journey:
Typically arrived through a friend's referral link—someone vouched for them
Completed the onboarding survey honestly and with integrity (this matters—clean demographic labels make our data valuable)
Working toward their first 140 uploads on a campaign
Learning what "good enough" actually means for recording quality, background noise, pronunciation
Building trust with the community and the platform
Support System: Newbies aren't left alone. Scouts model best practices, Guards catch honest mistakes before they become bad habits, and Judges answer the "wait, is this okay?" questions that come up in Discord. The goal isn't perfection—it's integrity and improvement.
Why This Phase Matters: The first 140 uploads reveal everything. Are you rushing for rewards or taking time to get it right? Did you answer demographic questions truthfully or game them? Do you ask for help or submit garbage and hope it passes? Newbies who pass this threshold with quality intact become Scouts. Those who don't... don't.
Next Step: Complete 140 quality uploads, maintain honest profile data, engage with the community. Scout status unlocks automatically when you've proven you're here for the right reasons.
🕵️ Scouts
Proven Contributors
Scouts have made the leap from newcomer to contributor. They've earned real rewards—USD or PUBLIC—through quality work, and now they're part of the active data generation engine.
What It Means:
You've been paid for your contributions because they met quality standards
You understand what PublicAI values and can consistently deliver it
You're actively participating in DataHub campaigns across languages and data types
You're no longer figuring it out—you're executing
Responsibilities:
Continue submitting quality contributions across campaigns
Participate in validations to help maintain dataset integrity
Provide feedback on new campaigns to catch quality issues early
Model best practices for Newbies in Discord and through your work
Why It Matters: Scouts are the bulk of PublicAI's data generation. They're not just passing through for quick rewards—they're building a track record. The platform works because Scouts consistently choose quality over shortcuts.
Limitations: Scouts don't yet have referral earning capabilities. Referral rewards unlock at Guard level, when you've proven you understand how to grow the network without compromising it.
Community Roles & Levels
At PublicAI, quality data doesn't happen by accident—it happens because real people care about getting it right. Our community roles form the backbone of the Human Layer, ensuring every voice recording, every validation, and every dispute resolution maintains the integrity that makes our data valuable.
This isn't just gamification. These roles represent real responsibility, real trust, and real impact on the AI models being trained with our data.
The Five Pillars
👶 Newbies
Finding Your Way
Newbies are fresh contributors taking their first steps into PublicAI. They're learning the ropes, understanding quality standards, and proving they're here to contribute—not just to farm.
The Journey:
Typically arrived through a friend's referral link—someone vouched for them
Completed the onboarding survey honestly and with integrity (this matters—clean demographic labels make our data valuable)
Working toward their first 140 uploads on a campaign
Learning what "good enough" actually means for recording quality, background noise, pronunciation
Building trust with the community and the platform
Support System: Newbies aren't left alone. Scouts model best practices, Guards catch honest mistakes before they become bad habits, and Judges answer the "wait, is this okay?" questions that come up in Discord. The goal isn't perfection—it's integrity and improvement.
Why This Phase Matters: The first 140 uploads reveal everything. Are you rushing for rewards or taking time to get it right? Did you answer demographic questions truthfully or game them? Do you ask for help or submit garbage and hope it passes? Newbies who complete quality work earn their first rewards and become Scouts. Those who don't... don't.
Next Step: Complete quality uploads, maintain honest profile data, engage with the community. Scout status unlocks automatically when you earn your first USD or PUBLIC on the platform.
🕵️ Scouts
Proven Contributors
Scouts have made the leap from newcomer to contributor. They've earned real rewards—USD or PUBLIC—through quality work, and now they're part of the active data generation engine.
What It Means:
You've been paid for your contributions because they met quality standards
You understand what PublicAI values and can consistently deliver it
You're actively participating in DataHub campaigns across languages and data types
You're no longer figuring it out—you're executing
Responsibilities:
Continue submitting quality contributions across campaigns
Participate in validations to help maintain dataset integrity
Provide feedback on new campaigns to catch quality issues early
Model best practices for Newbies in Discord and through your work
Why It Matters: Scouts are the bulk of PublicAI's data generation. They're not just passing through for quick rewards—they're building a track record. The platform works because Scouts consistently choose quality over shortcuts.
Limitations: Scouts don't yet have referral earning capabilities. This isn't a punishment—it's a safeguard. Referral rewards unlock at Guard level, when you've proven you understand how to grow the network without compromising it.
🛡️ Guards
Trusted Network Builders
Guards have earned the platform's trust through consistent quality contributions. Now they can grow the network—and earn from referrals—because they've proven they won't game the system.
What Unlocks:
Referral rewards: Earn when people you bring in contribute quality work
Network growth responsibility: Your referrals reflect on you
Community protection duties: Flag bad actors and low-quality submissions
Platform trust: You're vouching for the people you bring in
Judge pipeline: Guards are the first people we look to when selecting new Judges
Responsibilities:
Refer high-quality contributors—friends, family, community members who will respect the platform
Flag malicious, spammy, or suspiciously low-quality content before it enters datasets
Monitor for coordinated manipulation or farming behavior
Help Newbies understand quality standards without being gatekeepers
Surface emerging threats to Judges for investigation
Maintain order during high-traffic campaign launches
Demonstrate judgment, fairness, and deep platform knowledge in community interactions
Why This Structure Exists: Most platforms let anyone refer, which creates referral farming rings, bot networks, and quality collapse. PublicAI unlocks referral earnings only for people who've demonstrated they value quality over volume. When Guards refer someone, they have skin in the game—their reputation and future referral privileges depend on those people contributing quality work.
The Path to Judge: Guards who excel—who show fairness in helping others, who surface real issues without creating drama, who understand nuance in quality standards—become natural candidates for Judge positions. We don't promote Scouts directly to Judge because we need to see how someone handles responsibility first. Guard is that proving ground.
Why It Matters: Guards protect the ecosystem from the attacks that plague every data platform. They also ensure growth doesn't dilute quality—it amplifies it. One Guard referring 10 quality contributors is worth more than 100 random referrals from untrusted sources.
How To Apply: Create a Discord ticket expressing interest in the Guard role. Selection is based on contribution history, quality track record, community standing, and demonstrated understanding of platform values.
👨⚖️ Judges
The Final Arbiters
Judges handle the hard cases—disputes, edge cases, and situations where automated systems and community voting can't reach clear resolution. Nearly all Judges come from the Guard ranks.
Responsibilities:
Adjudicate submission disputes when validation votes are split or inconclusive
Resolve edge cases that fall outside standard quality guidelines
Moderate community discussions in Discord and Telegram
Guide Newbies, Scouts, and Guards through complex quality questions
Maintain consistency in how PublicAI interprets its own standards
Make judgment calls that set precedent for future decisions
Mentor Guards who show Judge potential
Why Guards Become Judges: Guard responsibilities reveal who has the judgment, temperament, and platform knowledge needed for Judge work. Guards who consistently:
Flag real issues without false positives
Help others navigate gray areas fairly
Earn respect from multiple community segments
Demonstrate pattern recognition across quality issues
Show they can handle responsibility without ego
...these are the people we tap when Judge positions open.
Why It Matters: No automated system can handle every edge case. No community vote can resolve every disagreement. Judges provide the human judgment that keeps our quality standards coherent and fair—and they come from people who've already proven they can handle platform responsibility.
How To Apply: Judge positions open by announcement only. If you're a Guard who wants to become a Judge, the best application is doing excellent Guard work. We're watching.
👶 Datababies
The Foundation
Datababies are the earliest believers in PublicAI's mission. They're not just NFT holders—they're ambassadors of the Human Layer philosophy who set the tone for everyone else.
Responsibilities:
Represent PublicAI across social platforms (X, Discord, Telegram) with Datababies PFP
Set quality standards through consistent, high-integrity contributions
Trade and engage with the Datababies collection on HOT Craft
Serve as community elders—sources of wisdom and guidance for Newbies, Scouts, Guards, and everyone in between
Lead by example in every interaction with the platform
Why It Matters: Datababies establish the culture. When Newbies see Datababies leading by example, they understand what PublicAI values: quality over quantity, authenticity over farming, community over extraction. Datababies aren't just early—they're foundational.
How To Qualify: Hold a Datababies NFT in your bound NEAR wallet, set it as your PFP, then request the role in Discord via #add-datababies-role.
Progression & Trust
Your level across PublicAI—on DataHub, in Discord—reflects cumulative trust earned through meaningful action:
Quality contributions to campaigns (not just volume)
Honest demographic data from day one (this never stops mattering)
Bound social accounts (verification)
Connected wallets (commitment)
PUBLIC token staking (skin in the game)
Consistent community engagement
Time and reliability in the ecosystem
The Path:
As you level up:
Priority access to new campaigns
Increased reward multipliers
Referral earnings (Guard+)
Greater voice in community decisions
Consideration for Judge promotion (Guard → Judge pipeline)
Recognition as someone who helped build this
Why This Structure Exists
Most data platforms treat contributors as interchangeable labor. PublicAI treats them as stakeholders with differentiated roles, responsibilities, and recognition.
The result:
Cleaner data because people who care about quality are empowered to enforce it
Fairer systems because disputes are resolved by trusted community members who've proven themselves
Better onboarding because Newbies are supported, not exploited
Sustainable growth because referral rewards only go to people who won't abuse them
Clear advancement paths because Guard → Judge progression rewards people who do the work excellently
Valuable datasets because every recording, every label, every validation reflects human judgment—not just mechanical completion
The Protection Layers:
Referral earnings locked until Guard (prevents farming)
Judge selection from Guard ranks (ensures proven judgment)
Each level requires demonstrated competence before advancement
These aren't arbitrary gates—they're filters that keep quality high as the platform scales.
For Newbies: You're Not at the Bottom
You're at the beginning. Take your time, ask questions, submit quality work. The community wants you to succeed—but only if you're here for the right reasons.
The Journey:
Complete your first quality contributions → Earn your first rewards → Scout
Keep contributing with integrity → Build trust → Apply for Guard
Excel at Guard work → Show judgment and fairness → Get tapped for Judge
Or go parallel: Hold a Datababies NFT and rep the culture from day one.
Every Judge started as a Newbie. Every Guard was once figuring out recording quality. The difference is they stuck with it, maintained integrity, and proved they valued the mission over the money.
These roles aren't cosmetic. They're the architecture of trust that makes the Human Layer work.
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