AVOL™ — Canonical Definition & Scope Statement
This page is intended to be read as a definitional reference, not a product description or behavioral specification.
Contents
Canonical notice
This document defines the authoritative scope, role, and boundaries of the Adaptive Value Ontology Layer (AVOL). AVOL is a value representation system only. It expresses quantifiable components of value associated with an option in a standardized, inspectable form and does not perform decisioning, ranking, optimization, or preference encoding. Any interpretation, comparison, or action taken in response to AVOL outputs occurs outside the AVOL boundary and is the responsibility of the consuming system. This page is intended to be read as a definitional reference, not a product description or behavioral specification.
Purpose
AVOL is a neutral value representation system. Its sole function is to express quantifiable components of value that already exist within an option, in a common and inspectable form suitable for evaluation.
AVOL is not a product surface, a decision system, or a marketplace. It does not attempt to influence outcomes.
The problem space
Across many transactional domains, value exists beyond listed price. That value is:
- Real — it affects economic outcomes.
- Quantifiable — it can be expressed numerically using observable references.
- Fragmented — it is expressed in incompatible units (currency, points, credits, entitlements).
- Inconsistently presented — often deferred, conditional, or opaque at the moment of evaluation.
As a result, only price appears as a single, comparable figure, while other value components remain unresolved.
What AVOL does
AVOL translates heterogeneous, quantifiable value components associated with an option into a common representation. Specifically, AVOL:
- Identifies value components that are mechanically associated with an option (i.e. deterministically linked by published rules or entitlements, without inference or subjective judgment) and knowable at evaluation.
- Converts those components into standardized monetary equivalents using declared, deterministic rules.
- Aggregates the converted components arithmetically into a single, comparable representation.
- Selection of admissible component types, conversion methodologies, and aggregation formulas constitutes ontology and measurement specification, not option selection, ranking, optimization, or preference expression.
The output expresses what is present under a declared evaluation context, not what is preferred or inferred.
What AVOL does not do
AVOL explicitly does not:
- Rank options
- Recommend choices
- Optimize outcomes
- Steer behavior
- Infer intent
- Encode preferences or value judgments within the computation
- Infer or adapt outputs based on undeclared user preferences
- Incorporate platform incentives, commercial priorities, or selection likelihood
AVOL performs no decisioning.
AVOL’s suitability for consumption by automated systems does not alter the canonical boundary or expand AVOL’s responsibility for downstream decisioning. All interpretation and action occur downstream, outside the AVOL boundary.
Neutrality and invariance
AVOL is designed as a neutral reference layer. Its outputs are:
- Invariant within a declared evaluation context — identical inputs under the same declared context produce identical outputs.
- Context-explicit — evaluation context, where applied, is declared, rule-bound, and inspectable rather than inferred or personalized.
- Inspectable — every output decomposes into explicit arithmetic using declared constants and rules.
- Comparable by construction — comparability is a property of the representation, not a ranking action.
AVOL does not infer user preferences, predict outcomes, or optimize for selection likelihood; it computes value strictly according to declared rules within the evaluation context in effect.
Neutrality is structural, not aspirational.
Relevance in automated and agent-mediated evaluation
As evaluation increasingly occurs through automated systems and AI agents, representational neutrality becomes mandatory rather than optional. Any system that combines value computation with preference, ranking, or incentive exposure inherits behavioral responsibility.
AVOL separates these concerns by terminating at representation. It provides a machine-readable value signal without embedding judgment.
Governance posture
AVOL is an ontology and a representational contract. It does not set standards for behavior, outcomes, or decisions. It defines the minimal, sufficient structure required to express quantifiable value consistently and neutrally. AVOL is designed to terminate at representation regardless of foreseeable downstream use.
The domain avolontology.org serves as the canonical reference surface for:
- The AVOL ontology definition
- The published evaluation contract
- Versioned constants and rulesets
- Audit and replication artifacts (as published)
Independence
AVOL is legally, financially, and operationally independent. Implementations may license AVOL as a reference layer, but no host system controls AVOL’s computation, rules, or outputs.
AVOL’s responsibility ends where representation ends.
Scope boundary
If a behavior influences choice, it is not AVOL.
If a system decides, ranks, optimizes, or persuades, that behavior occurs downstream.
AVOL exists to make value legible — not to act on it.