Padding to k: A Minimum Count in the Schema Makes Open-Weight Models Pad Their Extraction Lists
3 judges. Scored by all three judges. Only the day’s top stories get the claim check. How far stories are checked
When a JSON schema sets a minimum number of list entries but the document contains fewer items, open-weight language models tend to pad their output to meet the count.
Score
0.69total under rubric v2.0
- Significance0.59
- Reader interest0.72
- Audience breadth0.59
- Practical relevance0.79
- Substantiated0.87
- Technical depth0.72
- New information0.91
- Counts against: Promotional0.04
- Counts against: Overclaim0.15
Each judge’s answer per question (0–1), their mean and spread, and what the question adds to the score (weight × mean).
| Question | Judge 1 | Judge 2 | Judge 3 | Mean | Spread | Weight | Contribution (weight times mean) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Significance | 0.65 | 0.40 | 0.72 | 0.59 | 0.32 | +0.25 | +0.147 |
| Reader interest | 0.67 | 0.60 | 0.90 | 0.72 | 0.30 | +0.20 | +0.145 |
| Audience breadth | 0.54 | 0.50 | 0.72 | 0.59 | 0.22 | +0.10 | +0.059 |
| Practical relevance | 0.82 | 0.70 | 0.86 | 0.79 | 0.16 | +0.15 | +0.119 |
| Substantiated | 0.99 | 0.70 | 0.93 | 0.87 | 0.29 | +0.10 | +0.087 |
| Technical depth | 0.75 | 0.60 | 0.82 | 0.72 | 0.22 | +0.10 | +0.072 |
| New information | 0.94 | 0.80 | 0.98 | 0.91 | 0.18 | +0.10 | +0.091 |
| Promotional | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.04 | 0.03 | −0.15 | −0.006 |
| Overclaim | 0.21 | 0.20 | 0.05 | 0.15 | 0.16 | −0.15 | −0.023 |
| Sum of contributions | +0.691 | ||||||
| Claim-check penalty | 0.000 | ||||||
| Total, as published | 0.691 | ||||||
Spread is the highest minus the lowest judge answer. marks a spread above 0.40: the judges disagree, and the story is marked contested.
Also covered by
No other coverage was clustered with this story.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere: HN —
Recorded for context only, checked 24 Oct 2026, 08:53 UTC. It played no part in the ranking.