promise

Definition

The expected future payoff of an approach, as opposed to its measured results. Titles use it both ways: as optimism about an emerging direction, or, in the phrase "the false promise of X", as the setup for showing that the payoff does not survive careful evaluation. Treat it as a forward-looking claim, not as evidence.

Explainers using this term

• Evaluating Distilled Models — Is "Close to the Teacher" a Good Metric?The False Promise of Imitating Proprietary LLMs