论文标题

解释任何ML模型? - 关于XAI的目标和能力

Explaining Any ML Model? -- On Goals and Capabilities of XAI

论文作者

Renftle, Moritz, Trittenbach, Holger, Poznic, Michael, Heil, Reinhard

论文摘要

机器学习(ML)的普遍性越来越多,激发了对算法的研究,以解释ML模型及其预测 - 所谓的可解释的人工智能(XAI)。尽管进行了许多调查和讨论,但XAI算法的目标和能力远非众所周知。我们认为这是因为XAI文献中有问题的推理方案:据说XAI算法可以补充具有所需属性的ML模型,例如“可解释性”或“解释性”。这些属性反过来又假定有助于目标,例如在ML系统中的“信任”。但是,大多数属性都缺乏精确的定义,它们与此类目标的关系远非显而易见。结果是一种推理方案,使研究结果混淆并留下一个重要的问题:人们对XAI算法有什么期望?在本文中,我们从具体的角度阐明了XAI算法的目标和功能:用户的目标。仅当用户对它们有疑问时,要解释ML模型才有必要。我们表明用户可以提出各种问题,但是当前XAI算法只能回答其中一个问题。根据ML应用程序,回答这个核心问题可能是微不足道的,困难的甚至是不可能的。基于这些见解,我们概述了哪些能力制定者,研究人员和社会可以合理地从XAI算法中期望。

An increasing ubiquity of machine learning (ML) motivates research on algorithms to explain ML models and their predictions -- so-called eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI). Despite many survey papers and discussions, the goals and capabilities of XAI algorithms are far from being well understood. We argue that this is because of a problematic reasoning scheme in XAI literature: XAI algorithms are said to complement ML models with desired properties, such as "interpretability", or "explainability". These properties are in turn assumed to contribute to a goal, like "trust" in an ML system. But most properties lack precise definitions and their relationship to such goals is far from obvious. The result is a reasoning scheme that obfuscates research results and leaves an important question unanswered: What can one expect from XAI algorithms? In this article, we clarify the goals and capabilities of XAI algorithms from a concrete perspective: that of their users. Explaining ML models is only necessary if users have questions about them. We show that users can ask diverse questions, but that only one of them can be answered by current XAI algorithms. Answering this core question can be trivial, difficult or even impossible, depending on the ML application. Based on these insights, we outline which capabilities policymakers, researchers and society can reasonably expect from XAI algorithms.

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