Proxy Task

Definitions

1. A task used as a stand-in for a harder-to-measure real objective, often because the true target is expensive or ambiguous to evaluate directly. Proxy tasks are useful, but they can mislead if success on the proxy fails to predict real-world value.

   In plain English: A substitute task used to approximate a harder real objective.

   Example: "The benchmark relied on a proxy task for summarization quality, but human reviewers still found important omissions in production."

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