Glossary Deterministic
Deterministic
Also known as:
determinism, non-deterministic, nondeterministicTechTestingAI
Definitions
Given the same input, always producing the same output — no dependence on time, randomness, ordering, or what else is running
The property a test needs to be trusted and a build needs to be reproducible. A flaky test is a non-deterministic one; the fix is to find the hidden input, not to retry.
Of a system with a language model in it: the parts that are not the model
A model's output varies between runs even at temperature zero. Design puts the model behind a deterministic boundary — validation, schemas, tests — so the variance is contained rather than shipped.
Same in, same out. The word for what a test, a build, and a migration must be — and for what a language model is not, which is why the model sits behind things that are.