choice
Enable an AI agent to recognise an act of choosing, record how a selection was made, assess whether it is settled and authorised, and identify permissible next actions.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
5 bundles · 9 layers · 15 findings · 25 questions
Choice occurrence and attribution Establishes whether choosing occurred and who performed it.
Selection evidence
Distinguishes an act of selection from consideration, preference, and observed outcomes.
Identifiable selection
Record the selected alternative and the evidence supporting the claim that an act of choosing occurred.
- What was selected, and what statement, interaction, or behaviour indicates selection rather than mere consideration? definition
- Does the evidence directly record choosing, or is choosing inferred from an outcome that could have another explanation? provenance
Chooser and representation
Locates the selecting actor and separates selection from representation and implementation.
Attributed chooser
Record who selected, on whose behalf they acted, and any uncertainty about collective or delegated authorship.
- Who made the selection, and who merely advised, communicated, or implemented it? boundary
- If the chooser acted for another person or group, what establishes the extent of their authority to select? provenance
Alternatives and selection rule Records what the choice was between and what constituted an admissible selection.
Available alternatives
Separates presented, perceived, and feasible alternatives at the time of choosing.
Alternative set
Record the alternatives known to the chooser and relevant differences between apparent and actual availability.
- Which alternatives did the chooser understand to be available when selecting? definition
- Which alternatives were infeasible, hidden, excluded, or discovered only after the selection? boundary
Admissible selection
Specifies the permitted selection form and the meaning of nonselection.
Cardinality and declining
Record whether the chooser could select one, several, or no alternatives, and distinguish declining from failing to respond.
- How many alternatives could be selected, and were any combinations incompatible? measurement
- Was declining or deferring an explicit alternative, and how is that distinguished from silence or an incomplete choice? boundary
Selection basis and freedom Records how selection occurred and the conditions affecting the chooser's ability to select otherwise.
Reasons and procedure
Captures the reported basis of selection without assuming optimisation or conscious comparison.
Basis of selection
Distinguish the chooser's stated reasons, the procedure used, and any explanation inferred by an observer.
- What reasons or procedure does the chooser identify as producing this selection? provenance
- What information or uncertainty did the chooser report as relevant when selecting? provenance
- Was the selection deliberate, habitual, randomised, rule-governed, or insufficiently documented to classify? definition
Constraints and defaults
Examines restrictions and default mechanisms that affect selection or its attribution.
Ability to select otherwise
Record concrete barriers, pressure, and default behaviour before assessing whether the selection was freely made.
- What practical barriers, threats, or dependencies affected the chooser's ability to select another alternative or decline? boundary
- If a default took effect, what evidence shows that the chooser actively accepted it? provenance
- What clarification or additional opportunity to choose is needed before relying on this selection? action
Commitment, revision, and handoff Tracks when a selection becomes usable, how it can change, and what it authorises next.
Confirmation and revision
Identifies the current selection and its conditions for confirmation, withdrawal, or replacement.
Current commitment
Record whether the choice is provisional or confirmed and retain the relationship between revised selections.
- What evidence establishes whether this selection is provisional, confirmed, withdrawn, or superseded? provenance
- Until when, and under what conditions, may the chooser revise or withdraw it? action
Selection to execution
Defines the handoff from a chosen alternative to a separately authorised implementation.
Action authority
Record what the selection permits an agent to do and whether further approval is required before implementation.
- Does this choice authorise implementation, or only identify the alternative the chooser currently selects? boundary
- What confirmation, authority, or prerequisite remains necessary before acting on the selection? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of choice this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of choice this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of choice this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of choice this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of choice this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of choice this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of choice this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Activities and processes
- Entry kind
- noun.act
- Plane
- ACT
- Domain
- ACT.ACT
- Facets: substance
- activity
- Facets: origin
- conceptual
- Facets: agency
- inert
- Facets: mobility
- not-applicable
- Facets: scale
- not-applicable
- Facets: affordances
- observable
- Other names and narrower kinds
- selection, option, pick, casting, coloration, colouration, sampling, random sampling, lucky dip, stratified sampling, representative sampling, proportional sampling
What it is Filled
Choice is the act of selecting an option from a set of alternatives, whether through explicit deliberation or a less reflective process, without necessarily implying freedom from constraint or subsequent execution.
In scope
- The chooser and any authority to choose for another party
- Alternatives considered, perceived as available, excluded, or selected
- The selection rule, expressed reasons, and relevant uncertainty
- Constraints, pressure, defaults, and opportunities to decline
- Evidence that selection occurred and whether it remains provisional
- Confirmation, revision, withdrawal, and handoff to implementation
Out of scope
- Preferences and values considered independently of a particular choice
- Deliberation or evaluation that produces no selection
- Execution of the selected action and its downstream outcomes
- Consent as a distinct act with its own validity requirements
- The design and governance of systems that present choices
- Mathematical choice functions considered independently of choosing acts
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to recognise an act of choosing, record how a selection was made, assess whether it is settled and authorised, and identify permissible next actions.
Distinguishing features Filled
- An instance must identify what was selected, or explicitly record that evidence of selection is unresolved; considering alternatives alone is insufficient.
- A preference ranks or favours alternatives, whereas a choice selects one or more for a particular occasion; the selected alternative need not be the most preferred.
- An available option is something that could be chosen, whereas this entry concerns the act that selects it.
- Selection and execution can occur separately: an unimplemented selection can still be a choice.
- An imposed outcome or an automatically applied default does not by itself demonstrate that the affected party chose it.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Make a choice that belongs to a person without their authority.
- Manipulate a person's choice with deceptive design, pressure or hidden defaults.
- Treat a choice made under coercion as free and binding.
- Remove options from a person without telling them.
Only with a human decision
- Acting on a choice that significantly affects another person's rights, health or money.
May
- Record how a choice was made, who made it and what options were considered.
- Present options and their trade-offs to a person so they can choose.
Moral aspects Filled
- Respecting people's choices is the core of autonomy, yet choices are shaped by power and circumstance.
- Automated systems increasingly nudge or make choices on people's behalf.
Who is affected
- The person choosing
- People affected by the choice
Owners Filled
Steward
The person who makes the choice answers for it.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- oewn-00038116-n - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.choice-act
- Open English WordNet: oewn-00162063-n
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Chooser attribution: Selecting person, group, or system; represented party where applicable; unresolved attribution
- Alternative availability: For each alternative: perceived available, verified feasible, unavailable, disputed, or unknown
- Selection cardinality: Number of selected alternatives, interpreted against the permitted minimum and maximum
- Selection basis: Examples: comparative evaluation, habit, rule, random procedure, explicit default acceptance, mixed, or unknown
- Choice status: Unresolved, provisional, confirmed, withdrawn, or superseded
- Pressure and restriction: Documented constraints, threats, incentives, dependencies, and ability to decline
- Revision window: Deadline or remaining duration in seconds, minutes, or days; unrestricted, unavailable, or unknown
Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
An act of choosing has no intrinsic visual appearance and must be inferred from communication or behavior in context.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Elicit the intended selection and clarify whether selecting none or deferring is allowed.
- Compare perceived alternatives with feasible alternatives and expose relevant omissions.
- Check whether a recorded selection satisfies its stated selection rule.
- Distinguish direct evidence of choosing from an inference based on behaviour or defaults.
- Confirm or revise a selection within the chooser's authority and applicable revision conditions.
- Pass a confirmed selection to an execution process when separate action authority is established.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Dark patterns that steer people against their interests.
- Choices assumed rather than confirmed.
Standards and interfaces not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
No single standard, law or official classification applies to choosing in general, because applicable requirements depend on the decision and jurisdiction.
Context of use required Filled
- Choice occurs when a person or agent selects among alternatives in everyday activities, planning, purchasing or collective decisions.
- Recording a choice helps distinguish the selected option from options still under consideration and supports subsequent coordination.
- A selection can occur under constraints and does not by itself establish authorization or execution.
Sources Filled
- Open English WordNet 2024, synset oewn-00162063-n - sense and gloss of the concept
- Wiktionary: choice - word senses and usage
Open questions
- What minimum evidence should qualify habitual or nonconscious behaviour as choosing rather than an observer's interpretation?
- Should cases with only one feasible alternative count as choices, and how should perceived alternatives affect that classification?
- Under what conditions should automated selection be attributed to a system, its operator, or a delegating person?
- How should collective choice be individuated when voting, aggregation, and ratification involve different actors and times?
- Which domain-specific criteria distinguish constrained choice, coerced choice, and an imposed outcome?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-choice-act/spec.json