How to Read a Model's Report Card: Benchmarks, Arena Elo, and the Traps Behind the Numbers
Benchmark scores in model releases have three common traps: cherry-picking (only showing wins), contamination (test data leaking into training), and saturation (when everyone scores 90%+, the benchmark stops being useful). The most manipulation-resistant signal is Chatbot Arena's Elo ranking — real humans, blind voting, uncontrolled questions.