Set Selection Criteria Before Generating at Scale
When batch generation means producing as many variations as possible and choosing by instinct, volume takes the place of standards, and off-brief options make the cut.
Article AIGC Content Technology
Set boundaries for the materials used as examples
When creating examples for tools, including every finished piece you like often means the flaws in those examples get learned too. A more reliable approach is to include only material that meets the boundaries and specify what should not be learned from it. Use example notes to make that choice stick.
Key points
- Examples for tools should no longer be a collection of every finished piece you like.
- Left unchecked, the same thing keeps happening: people learn the flaws in the examples too.
- Start instead with this: include only material that meets the boundaries, and specify what should not be learned from it.
- Put the decision in the example notes. Owner: the content lead.
- From now on, review against one question: Does the example include any prohibited practices?
01What should example materials rule out?
The first thing example materials must stop doing is collecting every finished piece you like. In examples for tools, leaving that unchecked leads directly to people learning the flaws in the examples too.
Keep only a small amount of material. That makes it easier to uphold the rule: include only material that meets the boundaries, and specify what should not be learned from it.
Include only material that meets the boundaries, and specify what should not be learned from it. Until that is in place, example materials remain a collection of every finished piece you like.
02Where does ambiguity creep into example materials?
Ambiguity often slips in through well-intentioned additions. To accommodate more situations, people turn example materials back into a collection of every finished piece they like.
Every addition makes the boundaries harder to enforce unless the team revisits the underlying issue: people learn the flaws in the examples too.
03Start with a list of what examples must not do
A list of exclusions is more useful than a string of adjectives. Specify when example materials must not be used, so the team knows that “include only material that meets the boundaries, and specify what should not be learned from it” is more than a slogan.
Keep the list short enough to read in full whenever the examples are updated.
04Use tools to keep examples within bounds
Example notes are there to prevent overstepping, not to collect inspiration. Ideas that cross the line may exist, but they must not be presented as examples to follow.
Boundaries hold because content leadership enforces them—and has power to say no.
05What to do when example materials cross the line
When an example crosses the line, don't just revise the individual piece. Return to the example notes and add the condition that was bypassed.
Then check again using the same question: Does the example include any prohibited practices?
Framework
Four layers of example materials
From non-negotiable principles to tools used on the ground, each layer answers one question, keeping example materials from becoming a collection of every finished piece you like.
L1What to learn
This layer spells out what must not be compromised in the example materials.
L2What not to learn
This layer turns the example materials into conditions that can be checked.
L3Source
This layer defines what can change across different contexts.
L4Owner
This layer assigns the example materials to the people who use them and states any exceptions.
Note: This diagram is a conceptual framework. It explains a way of thinking and is not statistical data. Source: Qingmei Future Insights.
Recommended actions
Action 01
Start from the site
Identify when example materials are actually used in tools. Don't start by turning them back into a collection of every finished piece you like.
Action 02
Keep it to one page
Use example notes instead of a longer explanation. Keep only what supports this principle: “Include only material that meets the boundaries, and specify what should not be learned from it.”
Action 03
Judge it by one question
When updating examples, ask just one question: Does the example include any prohibited practices? If you can't answer, the decision isn't settled.
Action 04
Name the owner
Content lead. Without a clear owner, example materials will be quietly changed when conflicts arise.
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