Data Bricklaying Diary

Oct 10, 2026 · Artificial Intelligence

Synthetic Data Isn't Free Real Data: When to Use & How to Validate Without Bias

This article explains that synthetic data cannot replace real evidence, detailing when it's appropriate (rare scenarios, privacy, simulation), five validation dimensions (authenticity, validity, diversity, privacy, task gain), strict separation between training and evaluation sets, auditability requirements, and the need for reproducible task gains on real independent benchmarks before adoption.