Xiao Zhang https://xzhang.art/ 2026-11-10T13:00:00.000Z Xiao Zhanghttps://xzhang.art/ Where Objectives Come From: Why AI Needs Normative Modeling https://xzhang.art/NLF/ 2026-05-06T11:23:00.000Z 2026-11-10T13:00:00.000Z A loss function is only one of the four parts of a decision problem. From Wald’s decision theory to normative modeling, this post asks where objectives come from, and why modern AI needs to treat them as hypotheses to be tested.