Education
When considering content supervision and security, two paradigms have emerged: the “shift left” and the “shift right” approaches. Everyone seems to have an opinion on which one is best and great arguments can be made for both. Let’s take a look at both strategies through the lens of a company’s content development cycle, regardless of that content being generated by humans or artificial intelligence (AI).
The Difference Between Shift Left and Shift Right
Shift Left is a strategy that emphasizes early-stage intervention by moving tasks, processes, and activities earlier in the development lifecycle. In the context of content creation, it’s about protecting the AI tools themselves and ensuring that they produce correct results. The goal is to prevent errors from propagating further down the line, saving time and resources in the long run.
On the other hand, the Shift Right approach focuses on supervising and refining content after it has been created. It involves rigorous review, meeting existing policies and rules, and refinement processes that take place post-production. The aim is to ensure the final product meets the highest standards of quality and relevance, as well as meets compliance requirements and company mandates, before it is shared publicly.
Why Shift Right is Ideal
While both approaches have their merits, the Shift Right approach offers several distinct advantages when supervising content developed by AI or humans:
- Comprehensive Review: Shift Right allows for a thorough examination of the content in its entirety. This holistic view can reveal issues that might not be apparent during the creation phase.
- Contextual Understanding: Evaluating content post-production allows reviewers to understand the context better. This is particularly important for AI-generated content, where nuances and subtleties can sometimes be missed during creation.
- Continuous Improvement: The Shift Right approach fosters a culture of continuous improvement. By regularly reviewing and refining content, creators and AI tools can learn from their mistakes and make necessary adjustments for future content.
- User-Centric Focus: Shift Right emphasizes the end-user’s experience. By reviewing content after it’s been created, supervising technology can ensure that it not only meets quality standards but also resonates with the target audience.
- Flexibility: The Shift Right approach provides flexibility. It allows for adjustments and refinements based on feedback, market trends, and user behavior.
- Quality Assurance: Shift Right ensures that the final product is of the highest quality. It allows for multiple rounds of review and refinement, ensuring that the content is polished and error-free.
- Risk Mitigation: By catching errors post-production, the Shift Right approach helps mitigate risks associated with releasing flawed content.
- Efficiency: While it may seem counterintuitive, the Shift Right approach can lead to greater efficiency. By catching errors after the content has been created, teams can avoid the time-consuming process of revisiting the content creation phase.
- Innovation: The Shift Right approach encourages innovation. It allows creators to experiment with new ideas and approaches, knowing that any issues can be ironed out post-production.
- Collaboration: Shift Right promotes collaboration. It involves multiple stakeholders in the review process, fostering a team-oriented approach to content creation.
While the Shift Left approach has its place in security processes, the Shift Right strategy offers a more comprehensive, user-centric method for supervising content. Whether you’re overseeing AI-generated content or human-authored pieces or both, embracing the Shift Right approach can lead to higher quality, more relevant, and ultimately, more successful content.
