Do not preserve the visible form of a rule while losing the reason the rule exists.
By Pawan Nayar · from the LLOS AI Learning record
Do not preserve the visible form of a rule while losing the reason the rule exists.
Trace the rule back to the failure it was originally meant to prevent. Rules are usually created because something went wrong. A learner became confused. A user could not find an action. A model behaved inconsistently. A process became difficult to repeat. The rule was introduced to stop that failure from happening again. Over time, however, the wording of the rule can become more important than its purpose. People and AI systems begin enforcing the instruction mechanically, even in situations where the original problem no longer exists. That is when compliance starts producing worse outcomes. Before applying a rule to a new situation, ask: 1. What failure was this rule created to prevent? 2. Does that failure exist in the present case? 3. Which part of the rule actually prevents it? 4. Which parts are implementation choices rather than true requirements? The goal is not to weaken the rule. The goal is to preserve its intent more accurately.
A learning system introduces a rule that interactive activities should not require scrolling because learners were losing sight of questions, progress indicators, and action buttons during short exercises. Later, AI applies the same rule to a lesson containing a detailed worked example. To force everything into one viewport, it removes intermediate reasoning, shortens explanations, and breaks the example into fragments. The page now obeys the wording of the rule, but the lesson teaches less effectively. Looking back at the original failure reveals the real requirement: essential controls must remain easy to reach. The controls can stay continuously accessible while the explanation is allowed to use the space it genuinely needs. The protection remains. The unnecessary interpretation disappears.
Resolved from this lesson's own record — real definitions, not invented for this page.
More from the same record, pulled by shared topic — not written new for this page.
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Do not preserve the visible form of a rule while losing the reason the rule exists.