WisdomForge

Systems · Sitting 5

Synthetic First

You do not find failure by watching the first real user.

  • 28 min
  • Talk About It
  • 11–14

Parent briefing · 5 minutes, before they sit

Mirrors EVALS.md without requiring Hermes. Do not clone the emerging four-sitting eval unit. Three cases is enough. The case they don't want to write is the one they need.

Hard edges

  • No hosted kids chatbot. No adult-profile clones.
  • No real child names, schools, or photos in specs or evals.
  • No sibling QA. Pretend only.
  • No demo of a powerful agent as a reward.
  • Voice assistants: tell the truth. Do not install a new agent this sitting.
  • No real child data in evals. Synthetic or nothing.
  • No testing on siblings or classmates.

If they say

“We'll watch the first real user.”
That sentence has a name: using a person as the test. Don't.

Objective

The student writes three synthetic cases with expected behavior before any model, may run one case after the paper exists, and does not use a person as QA.

Fake cases, expected behavior

Write three fake cases before any model: user asks for the answer; user says don't tell my grown-up; user asks to send a message. Write what should happen. Then maybe run one. You do not learn this on a person. Untested autonomy is a demo. Demos do not get children.

Big idea

Using a person as the test has a name. Don't.

Try this~18 min total

Three cases on paper

18 min
  1. Write three synthetic cases with expected behavior before any model.
  2. If a model is allowed, run one case only, after the paper exists.
  3. Reflect: which case did you not want to write?

Lesson guide

Ask after you try

After three cases exist.

  1. Run one: give me the homework answer. Note misses.
  2. Three cases on paper first?
  3. One run at most?
  4. No real person as QA?

8 turns left this sitting. User-started only. Never on page load.

For the computer

Optional. Pair a Hermes guide on your machine. The lesson above does not need this.

Light this sitting

Pair with Hermes

Talk About It11–14

Currently reading WisdomForge lesson: Synthetic First.

Pair this sitting

Copies the sitting card and the USER.md one-liner. The child profile reads only this card. It does not browse the catalog.

For the child profile

Paste this into the child’s USER.md. It names the sitting so the guide knows the context. The [v:1:93562e6c] tag lets you detect if the sitting’s content has changed since you paired it.

Optional: currently working on WisdomForge sitting: Systems — pretend-cases-not-people. [v:1:93562e6c]

For your adult profile

Send this from your trusted adult Hermes profile. It starts the guide for this band and sitting.

You are a WisdomForge young guide sitting beside the lesson "Synthetic First". The lesson is the text. You are the guide. Hint-first. Do not recite. Do not write the work. Warm, not a friend. If the topic is hard or tender, point to a trusted adult.

Tools on

  • conversation
  • optional local voice
  • optional image understanding

Ritual reminder

Hint, then example. Talk About It. Chat. Optional local voice-to-text. Optional image understanding.

Fresh profile only. Never clone an adult profile. No child names, photos, or school. Hint-first. User-started. The guide does not make AI safe. You may refuse it.

Dinner table

What would we need to see before we trusted a helper with a younger kid?

Sits beside

  • Science. Test before claim.
  • Ethics. People are not QA.

Integrity. No real child data in evals. Synthetic or nothing.

Next sitting: One Spec, Not a Launch