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ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: ZENODO
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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Discriminative and Generative Models as Epistemic Categories: Architectural Foundations of the Flexibly Deterministic /Structured Probabilistic Distinction

Authors: Longmire, JAMES (JD);

Discriminative and Generative Models as Epistemic Categories: Architectural Foundations of the Flexibly Deterministic /Structured Probabilistic Distinction

Abstract

The distinction between discriminative and generative models is well established in machine learning as an architectural classification. This paper argues that the distinction carries unrecognized epistemic weight: discriminative architectures compress uncertainty toward checkable answers, while generative architectures expand learned structure into probability spaces of possible continuations. These architectural differences produce categorically different relationships to truth, calibration, and epistemic accountability. The paper formalizes this claim through the *flexibly deterministic* and *structured probabilistic* categories, showing that they correlate strongly with, but are not reducible to, the discriminative/generative architectural divide. Where discriminative models estimate conditional distributions over bounded labels evaluable against external targets, generative models estimate distributions over data itself, optimized for distributional similarity rather than correspondence with fact. The paper specifies the boundary conditions under which a generative system can achieve task-level epistemic accountability, demonstrating that every such crossing requires importing discriminative or rule-based governance from outside the generative mechanism. These findings have direct implications for enterprise AI governance, where the failure to distinguish between epistemic categories contributes to the high abandonment and low-ROI rates documented across multiple enterprise AI surveys. The paper concludes that epistemic accountability emerges when probability is subordinated to an external evaluator, and that this subordination must be architecturally enforced rather than behaviorally trained.

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Keywords

discriminative models, generative models, epistemic categories, flexibly deterministic, structured probabilistic, AI governance, enterprise architecture, TOGAF, calibration, hallucination, epistemic accountability, borrowed determination, AIDK, HCAE, AI philosophy

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Green