ML model to predict rankings (arbitrary ordering of a list)
Since there's an unknown function that generates the output, it's a regression problem. Neural network with 2 hidden layers and e.g. sigmoid can learn any arbitrary function.
I need some orientation for a problem I’m trying to solve. Anything would be appreciated, a keyword to Google or some indication !
So I have a list of 5 items. All items share the same features, let’s say each item has 3 features for the example.
I pass the list to a ranking function which takes into account the features of every item in the list and returns an arbitrary ordered list of these items.
For example,  if I give the following list of items (a, b, c, d, e) to the ranking function, I get (e, a, b, d, c).
Here is the thing, I don’t know how the ranking function works. The only things I have is the list of 5 items (5 is for the example, it could be any number greater than 1), the features of every item and the result of the ranking function.
The goal is to train a model which outputs an ordered list of 5 items the same way the ranking function would have done it.
What ML model can I use to support this notion of ranking ? Also, I can’t determine if it is a classification or a regression problem. I’m not trying to determine a continuous value or classify the items, I want to determine how they rank compared to each other by the ranking function.
I have to my disposition an infinite number of items since I generate them myself. The ranking function could be anything but let’s say it is :
attribute a score = 1/3 * ( x1 + x2 + x3 ) to each item and sort by descending score
The goal for the model is to guess as close as possible what the ranking function is by outputting similar results for the same batch of 5 items.
Thanks in advance !