Attribution vs. Preference Signaling: A Question for the Commons

Our AI Alignment in Open Source Working Group came across Stefano Maffulli's paper on Preference Signaling and wanted to learn more about whether this term, which cuts across a growing group of initiatives, might give people reason to feel more optimistic about the future of the commons. I was fortunate to get some time with Stefano, former Executive Director of OSI, and what came out of that conversation helped me name a distinction I'd been muddling. When I first came across preference signaling I assumed it was a new way of approaching attribution (which I have been advocating for in open source for a long time), or at least closely related.

Both are about credit and recognition for creators, so the confusion is understandable. Here's a table the breaks down some of the differences as I understand them currently: