Explainable AI (XAI) and Decision Support - Presentation Document
1. What is Explainable AI (XAI) and Why It Matters?
Definition:
Explainable AI (XAI) refers to techniques that make AI models' decisions understandable to
humans. Unlike 'black-box' models (e.g., deep neural networks), XAI provides transparency
in predictions.
Why It Matters:
- Trust: Users trust AI systems when they understand decisions.
- Accountability: Critical for legal and ethical compliance (e.g., GDPR).
- Debugging: Helps identify biases or errors in models.
Mathematical Perspective:
For a model f(x), XAI aims to approximate f(x) ≈ g(x), where g(x) is interpretable (e.g., linear
model or decision tree). Example: LIME minimizes:
argmin(g ∈ G) L(f, g, πₓ) + Ω(g)
where L is loss, πₓ defines locality around x, and Ω(g) penalizes complexity.
2. The Decision Support Challenge
Problem:
Complex AI models (e.g., ensemble methods) outperform humans in accuracy but lack
transparency, hindering adoption in high-stakes domains (e.g., healthcare).
Example:
A loan approval model rejects an application. Without explanations, stakeholders cannot
assess fairness.
3. Real-World Impact of XAI in Decision Support
Use Cases:
- Healthcare: Explaining diagnoses (e.g., 'The tumor is malignant due to spiculated
margins').
- Finance: Justifying credit scores using SHAP values.
Mathematics:
SHAP (Shapley Values) from game theory allocates feature importance:
φᵢ(f, x) = Σ_{S ⊆ N\{i}} (|S|!(|N|-|S|-1)! / |N|!) × [f(S ∪ {i}) - f(S)]
where N is the set of all features, and S is a subset.
4. The Trade-Off: Accuracy vs Explainability
Graph:
- Y-axis: Model Accuracy
- X-axis: Model Interpretability
- Trade-off curve shows simpler models (e.g., linear regression) are interpretable but less
accurate.
Mitigation:
Hybrid models (e.g., Google’s Explainable AI) combine deep neural networks with
interpretable components.
5. Key XAI Methodologies
1. Feature Importance:
- Permutation importance: Importanceᵢ = Error_permuted − Error_original
2. Surrogate Models:
- Train interpretable model g(x) to mimic f(x)
3. Attention Mechanisms:
- In NLP, attention weights show influential words: αᵢ = softmax(qᵀ kᵢ)
6. Tools and Frameworks Advancing XAI
- LIME: Local linear approximations.
- SHAP: Unified feature attribution.
- ELI5: Debugging ML models.
Code Snippet (SHAP):
import shap
explainer = [Link](model)
shap_values = explainer(X)
[Link](shap_values[0])
7. Challenges and Future Directions
Challenges:
- Scalability for large models.
- Quantifying 'explanation quality'.
Future:
- Automated XAI for real-time systems.
- Standardized evaluation metrics (e.g., completeness, stability).
8. The Human-AI Partnership: Enhancing Decision Quality
Framework:
1. AI suggests decisions with explanations.
2. Humans validate using domain knowledge.
Study:
IBM found XAI reduced human error by 30% in radiology.
9. Conclusion
- XAI bridges the gap between accuracy and transparency.
- Future lies in human-centric AI systems.
Final Equation:
Optimal AI = Accuracy + α × Explainability
where α balances the trade-off.
References
- Molnar, C. 'Interpretable Machine Learning.' 2020.
- Lundberg, S. 'SHAP Paper.' 2017.
