Contract
Translate the problem into a decision with an owner and an action.
SRAI Book 7 · Chapter 1 · PU-B07-C01
Start With the Decision
Define the institutional decision, accountable owner, intervention, time horizon, error costs, abstention conditions and escalation route before selecting an AI model.
01 / DECISION CONTRACT
Start with the decision—not the technology.
- Name the public or institutional problem before proposing AI.
- Identify the accountable owner and lawful decision authority.
- Define the intervention and the time horizon for action.
- Make false-positive and false-negative costs explicit.
- Specify when the system must abstain rather than recommend.
- Name escalation, review and stopping arrangements.
02 / CONTROLLED SEQUENCE
Contract, screen, score and escalate.
Screen
Test authority, capacity, data currency and operational readiness.
Score
Use thresholds that reflect the consequences of different errors.
Escalate
Send uncertainty and exceptions to named human review.
03 / APPLIED EXAMPLES
The same discipline transfers across sectors.
Agricultural frame verification and education attendance support illustrate how a decision contract constrains analysis before a model is selected.
The notebook uses synthetic instructional data and transparent threshold scenarios. It supports judgment; it does not automate institutional authority.
MINIMUM CONTRACT
| Problem | Specific and decision-relevant |
| Owner | Named and accountable |
| Action | Feasible and proportionate |
| Uncertainty | Linked to abstention |
| Review | Escalation and stopping rules |
04 / CONTROLLED VIDEO CANDIDATE
Start With the Decision.
Follow the complete decision-first reasoning sequence, from institutional problem definition to accountable escalation and stopping rules.
Open the video lesson on YouTube ↗05 / LEARNER RESOURCES
Continue with the controlled lesson materials.
04 / RELEASE BOUNDARY
Publication remains a separate controlled decision.
- PU-B07-C01 v0.2 is an accepted offline production baseline.
- The website page and asset links shown here are local preview candidates.
- No GitHub release, video upload or public announcement is asserted.
- Public availability requires immutable release URLs and separate owner authorization.
CONTROLLED RESOURCES