tbh saying all these dumb decision models are similar to Jev is like saying markov chains weren't far from GPT-2.
The value isn't really in the I/O shape, it is in the intelligence combined with the output shape. Every extra ounce of intelligence in these models unlocks additional use-cases. But the converse is also true: a dumb decision model is going to be less useful than using a more intelligent standard LLM.
That is the appeal of Jev: for certain usage it has more intelligence than some small SOTA LLMs. It is the first decision model that actually feels intelligent (to me).
That makes sense, I agree. I still think there might be use cases when people don't want to use the Jev API, and end on a different trade-off.