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An Order-Theoretic Characterization of Consistent Inductive Inference

arXiv机器学习 2026-09-23 13:28 5 阅读 查看原文

When can a learner make only finitely many prediction errors along every infinite sequence labeled by a fixed, unknown hypothesis?

We characterize this form of consistency for arbitrary binary hypothesis classes in ZFC, without requiring a uniform mistake bound.

The characterization uses a single linear order on finite realizable traces.

Each trace selects its least subtrace, and the order must satisfy two conditions:

  • conflicting traces select different subtraces,
  • and the order is well-founded on the traces of each fixed target.

These conditions induce a learner whose selected evidence decreases on every mistake.

Conversely, a consistent learner yields such an order through canonical mistake transcripts and the Kleene--Brouwer ordering.

The result provides a representation of consistent prediction by finite evidence, answering a question of Lu (2024).