Treat Cold-Start as a Contract — Transform Data Scarcity into a Design Problem —

Cold-Start Is Considered a Technical Problem

The cold-start problem
is usually treated as a technical issue.

There isn’t enough data.

The model cannot learn.

Accuracy does not improve.

So people say:

“Let’s collect more data.”

But is that really all?

The essence of cold-start
is not data scarcity.

It is:

A state in which the decision boundary is undefined.

And that
is a design problem.

What Is Cold-Start?

Cold-start is:

A new user
A new product
A new business
A new market
A new system

In other words:

A state with no history.

No history means:

No statistical stability
No visible distribution
No fixed thresholds

But the real question is:

Where do we stop automation?

Why Is Cold-Start Dangerous?

Normal models
depend on past distributions.

But in cold-start:

Similarity cannot be trusted
Scores are close to random
Estimation variance is high

If we automate decisions in this state,
errors become accidental.

But that is not the most dangerous part.

The real danger
is that responsibility becomes ambiguous.

Because the excuse becomes:

“There wasn’t enough data.”

What Does It Mean to Treat Cold-Start as a Contract?

Now we change the perspective.

Cold-start should not be treated as an exception state,
but as a contract state.

That means:

Explicitly define what “data scarcity” means
Declare the conditions for automatic decisions
Fix the stopping conditions

Cold-start is not an accident.
It must be a designed state.

First Principle of Contractualization: Turn State into a Type

The first step
is to explicitly define cold-start as a state.

For example:

data_points < N
uncertainty > threshold
confidence_interval > X
coverage_ratio < Y

Fix this in a schema:

state: "COLD_START"
reason: "insufficient_history"
auto_decision: false
requires_human_review: true

This is a type.

Second Principle of Contractualization: Fix the Scope of Automation

In a cold-start state:

Do not auto-execute
Only provide recommendations
Allow only limited actions
Lower credit or trust limits

Declare this as a contract.

The key point:

Do not rely on model accuracy.

Boundaries are determined by design.

Third Principle of Contractualization: Make Fail-Closed the Default

In cold-start:

Assume the worst case.

Do not execute even if the score is high
Do not persist outliers
Reject out-of-distribution cases

Make fail-closed the standard,
not fail-open.

Because the unknown
should always be tilted toward the safer side.

Cold-Start Is a Test of Responsibility

Cold-start tests
how much responsibility the system has designed.

In the age of massive data,
poor design can be hidden.

But in cold-start:

The basis of thresholds
The design of exception handling
The conditions for human intervention

are exposed.

Cold-start
is a litmus test of ethics.

Difference from Meta-Learning

Meta-learning
improves adaptation with small amounts of data.

But that is:

“Adaptation inside the type.”

A cold-start contract is:

“The design of the type itself.”

Adaptation and boundary-setting
are different problems.

The Role of Human-as-Author

The cold-start contract
is not written by the model.

It is written by humans.

Where to stop
How much to trust
Which risks to tolerate

These are not statistical questions.
They are value judgments.

That is why
Human-as-Author is necessary.

Practical Structure

A proper cold-start design looks like this:

Explicitly define the cold-start state
Fix the state in a DSL / schema
Contractualize the scope of automation
Require human approval
Gradually lift restrictions as history accumulates

Cold-start is not “temporary ignorance.”

It is a contract state
that is gradually released.

Conclusion

Cold-start is not a data problem.

It is a design problem.

Treat cold-start as a contract.

Turn state into a type.
Declare boundaries.
Fix stopping conditions.
Make fail-closed the default.

AI approximates continuity.

But in unknown territory,
continuity cannot be trusted.

That is why
we need types that protect discontinuity.

Cold-start is not an exception.

It is the moment that tests
whether responsibility has been designed.