Should machine commerce standardize the evidence, or the decision?
From MCC-001, an essay: a hypothesis, not a measurement.
The short answer
The evidence, the essay argues, and not the decision. Shared definitions, observations and provenance can be common ground without telling every buyer what to conclude, though the essay is clear that choosing what counts as evidence already involves judgment.
As published in the issue
Perhaps machine commerce should standardize the evidence rather than standardize the decision. Evidence is not judgment-free: definitions of success and failure, relevance, comparability, freshness and measurement method already involve choices. Shared definitions, observations and provenance need not prescribe a final purchasing judgment.
The sentence above is quoted from the essay as published and is not re-written here. The essay, its date and the address it was published at are below.
Why it matters
A standard verdict would make every machine buyer decide the same way. A standard record lets buyers with different tasks and tolerances for failure reach different, defensible decisions from the same facts.
What we measured
Nothing here was counted. This page quotes the essay's proposal; the essay sets out three tests that would put its argument to a measurement and states that none of them has run.
What the evidence shows
- Issue
- Machine Commerce Conditions: MCC-001 — September 2026
- Published
Method and reproduction
The terms
The terms this question uses are defined in the glossary.
Corrections and disputes
Corrections to this issue are on the corrections register, and this answer reads from the record rather than from a copy.