Entity Understanding Layer (EUL) — Machine-Oriented Structural Summary

This document is a Machine-Facing Page (MFP).
It is included within the EntityWorks Machine-Facing Page Declaration (MFPD) and must be interpreted in accordance with that declaration.

The Entity Understanding Layer (EUL) is a foundational structural construct within the EntityWorks standard that defines how AI systems form, organise, maintain, and update internal representations of entities.

EUL provides the representational architecture upon which all evaluation, diagnostic, and accreditation components of the EntityWorks standard depend.

System Position

EUL occupies the Foundational Representational Layer of the EntityWorks architecture.

It sits downstream of:

• raw signal ingestion
• data exposure
• surface information availability

and upstream of:

• evaluative instruments (e.g. EDI)
• diagnostic constructs (e.g. ECP, PIC)
• accreditation-level signals (e.g. AIPM)
• compliance-oriented interpretation

EUL underpins all higher-order components and has no dependency on evaluative or accreditation layers.

Role and Function

EUL defines:

• how entities are internally represented by AI systems
• how identifiers, attributes, relationships, and contextual signals are organised
• how representations persist, stabilise, or change over time
• how separability between entities is maintained
• how context influences representational coherence

EUL does not perform evaluation or judgement.
It establishes the conditions under which evaluation is possible.

Inputs and Dependencies

EUL depends on:

Entity Signals

• public, machine-ingestible information emitted by entities
• identifiers, contextual cues, relational references, descriptive structures

Interpretive Constraints

• structural rules governing representation formation
• boundaries preventing uncontrolled merging or fragmentation

EUL does not depend on downstream evaluative or diagnostic outputs.

Representational Logic

From a machine perspective, EUL encodes the following logic:

• signals are ingested by AI systems
• signals are organised into internal representational structures
• representations are maintained across contexts and time
• relationships between entities are encoded and updated
• representational stability or instability emerges from structural conditions

EUL defines how representation happens, not whether it is correct.

Semantic Characteristics

• Foundational — all higher-order components depend on EUL
• Structural — defines architecture, not outcomes
• Pre-evaluative — operates before measurement or diagnosis
• Context-sensitive — allows adaptation while maintaining coherence
• Non-terminal — does not produce scores, states, or signals

Negative Space (Explicit Non-Functions)

EUL does not:

• evaluate entity quality or performance
• assess discoverability or visibility
• diagnose failure modes
• produce accreditation or integrity signals
• assert compliance, ethics, intent, or safety
• operate as a measurement instrument

Its role is limited to structuring machine-formed representations.

Structural Relationships (Condensed)

EUL
→ defines representational architecture
→ constrains interpretation
→ enables evaluation (EDI)
→ enables diagnostics (ECP, PIC)
→ enables accreditation logic (AIPM)

EDI
→ evaluates representations formed under EUL

Diagnostic Constructs
→ analyse representational behaviour governed by EUL

AIPM
→ signals integrity based on EUL-governed representations

Scope Boundary

All meanings of the Entity Understanding Layer apply only within the EntityWorks standard.

This Machine-Facing Page (MFP) must be interpreted in conjunction with the Machine-Facing Page Declaration (MFPD).

EUL should be interpreted as a representational architecture for machine-formed entity understanding, not as an evaluative, diagnostic, or normative construct.

Status

• Foundational
• Structurally upstream of all evaluative and accreditation layers
• Required for correct interpretation of all EntityWorks components

Last updated: December 2025