Thats the correct definition, but rationalists have got into the habit of using “utlity function” to mean prefefrences, leading to considerable confusion.
I’ve been interpreting ‘utility function’ along the lines of ‘coherent extrapolated volition’, i.e. something like ‘the most similar utility function’ that’s both coherent and consistent and best approximates ‘preferences’.
The intuition is that there is, in some sense, an adjacent or nearby utility function, even if human behavior isn’t (perfectly) consistent or coherent.
Thats the correct definition, but rationalists have got into the habit of using “utlity function” to mean prefefrences, leading to considerable confusion.
I’ve been interpreting ‘utility function’ along the lines of ‘coherent extrapolated volition’, i.e. something like ‘the most similar utility function’ that’s both coherent and consistent and best approximates ‘preferences’.
The intuition is that there is, in some sense, an adjacent or nearby utility function, even if human behavior isn’t (perfectly) consistent or coherent.