Boundary Exploration

Boundary exploration is the methodical process of finding where the model’s behavior shifts — the point at which it transitions from answering freely to adding caveats, from providing detail to refusing, or from engaging to redirecting. By systematically varying inputs along key dimensions (sensitivity, specificity, framing, context), behavior architects can map the effective boundaries of a model’s behavior and identify whether those boundaries are well-calibrated. This is valuable for both safety and usability: finding places where the model refuses things it shouldn’t helps reduce over-refusal, and finding places where it engages with things it shouldn’t reveals gaps in safety design. Boundary exploration is best understood as a form of structured curiosity — you’re trying to understand the model as a behavioral system, not just to catch it failing.