Choose a checker by the mistakes it catches.
Published August 9, 2026Read first
What it saysJudges with similar overall accuracy differed sharply in detecting unwanted side effects. Catching more problems also sent more work to human reviewers.
Why it mattersA good average can hide the very failures you need to catch.
Try thisList your most important failure types.
How to use it
Suggested steps
- List your most important failure types.
- Check how many real problems each judge catches and how many false alarms it creates.
- Choose a setting your review team can handle; recheck after changes.
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Missed mistakes | Bad answers that passed |
| False alarms | Good answers sent for review |
Keep in mind Higher detection can create more review work. The best trade-off depends on the product.
A quick check for yourself
What is the practical lesson?
Show answer
A good average can hide the very failures you need to catch.
Source & why it’s here
Selecting LLM Judges for Agent Evaluation Pipelines (opens in a new tab)
Original issue reading order, preserved from the archive.