Methodology.
Primary sources, explicit gates, and a corrections log — the editorial spine behind Pulse and Learn.
Public metrics and outreach pack: Living experiment.
How we write
Pulse briefs are drafted by Illumora’s editorial model from the linked primary source — not by a human reporter calling sources. The model may only use facts present in the allowlisted material we fetched. Confidence floors, style gates, currency checks, and an ops Trust Desk catch failures; flagged or deep pieces can be held or retracted. Prefer the primary source when our wording and the source diverge.
Studio and Learn practice surfaces are also model-assisted by design. Marketing pages are separate from Pulse.
Independence
Illumora sells AI literacy tools (Studio, Learn, API). Pulse covers the same frontier labs those tools help you read. We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or placement from labs or vendors we cover on the wire. Coverage decisions follow allowlist tiers and editorial gates — not commercial relationships.
Where AI is used
Public matrix of automation vs human role. Updated when tooling changes.
| Surface | AI role | Human role | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulse draft | Drafts title, dek, body from allowlisted source text only | Ops Trust Desk on hold / retract; gates fail closed | On every brief + this page |
| Ingest / classify | Routes items to Pulse, Atlas, Learn, or discard | Allowlist + authority tiers | This page |
| Social captions | Compresses Pulse/Learn/Studio into IG/X/LI copy | Excellence gates; caption claims must match body | Not on-post (yet) |
| Studio / Learn | Generates practice prompts and lesson assist | Technique registry + product UX | Product is model-assisted by design |
| Never AI | Inventing sources, quoting people we did not fetch, paid placement decisions, or inventing model versions for social | ||
Allowlist, not firehose
Ingest pulls from an allowlist of primary publishers — AI labs, documentation surfaces, arXiv, and curated paper feeds. We do not scrape aggregator blogs for Pulse. Every published brief carries its primary source link.
Authority tiers
Sources are tiered. Tier 0 lab posts and official docs receive the strongest publish preference. Tertiary paper feeds are soft-capped so the wall does not fill with abstracts alone.
Classify, then draft
Items are routed to Pulse, Atlas, the technique registry, or Learn. Everyday cookbooks and Academy how-tos stay off the Pulse wall. Only Pulse-eligible items are drafted into briefs. Thin scrapes and vague mission copy are discarded, not queued forever.
Trust gates
Auto-publish requires classification and draft confidence floors, a minimum body length, a real dek, award-tier structure (Key points, Why it matters, What to do), and enough source material to support concrete bullets. Near-duplicates and daily cadence caps send otherwise-good drafts to a short-lived queue.
Lanes & synthesis
Pulse is three reading jobs under one brand. Judge each by its own bar — do not ask the Wire to be The Batch, or This Week to win a breaking-news race.
- Wire — living wall at /pulse. Speed and source-age currency; usually a single-source rewrite from one allowlisted primary.
- Deep / Policy — /pulse/deep. Research and governance with a calmer analytical spine; still grounded in primary text.
- This Week — /pulse/week. Curated package (lead + briefs + note) for Batch-like reading; spine for Pulse+ digests.
Every brief is labeled Single-source brief or Multi-source brief. Multi means select lead stories that synthesize multiple allowlisted sources on the same event — not original enterprise reporting.
Weekly package
Each week we assemble a curated package — one lead, several briefs, and a short editorial note — at /pulse/week. That package is the spine for Pulse+ digests.
Corrections
When we retract or correct a brief, it appears in the corrections log. Prefer the primary source when our wording and the source diverge.
FAQ
Trust questions.
- Are Pulse briefs written by humans?
- Pulse briefs are drafted by Illumora’s editorial model from allowlisted primary source text. Confidence floors, style gates, and an ops Trust Desk catch failures; prefer the primary source when wording diverges.
- Does Illumora take payment from labs it covers?
- No. Illumora does not accept payment, sponsorship, or placement from labs or vendors covered on the wire. Coverage follows allowlist tiers and editorial gates.
- Where can I see corrections?
- Public corrections and retractions live at https://illumora.io/corrections. Methodology and the living experiment page document gates and metrics.