Expected Utility

utility-theory

Definition

Expected Utility

The expected utility of an action $a$ given evidence $\mathbf{e}$, denoted $EU(A\mid \mathbf{e})$, is the average utility value of the outcomes, weighted by the probability that the outcome occurs:

$$EU(a\mid \mathbf{e})=\sum _{s^{\prime }}P(\text{RESULT}(a)=s^{\prime }\mid a,\mathbf{e})\cdot U(s^{\prime })$$