Treat evals as the training spec
Turn a fine-tuning goal into an eval suite with task description, test inputs, and iteration criteria.
The move: write the eval as the spec, then train against the spec. An eval suite is more than a quiz. It is the operating definition of model quality for a task. Task statement Describe the behavior in observable terms. "Sound more expert" is weak. "Return a structured risk summary with cited source snippets and no uncited legal advice" is testable. Test inputs Use realistic prompts, including messy source material and edge cases. Keep a holdout set the training job never sees. Scoring and analysis Decide what counts as pass, partial pass, and failure. Then analyze by slice, not just…
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