This might be the first time you hear about Explainable Artificial Intelligence, but it is certainly something you should have an opinion about. Explainable AI (XAI) refers to the techniques and methods to build AI applications that humans can understand “why” they make particular decisions. In other words, if we can get explanations from an AI system about its inner logic, this system is considered as an XAI system. Explainability is a new property that started to gain popularity in the AI community, and we will talk about why that happened in recent years.
Let’s dive into the technical roots of the problem, first.
Artificial intelligence as an enhancer in our lives
Technological advancements certainly enable us to have access to better services with more convenience. Technology is an indispensable part of our lives. Its benefits certainly outweigh its harms, and like it or not, its impact on our lives will only increase. The invention of computers, the internet, and mobile devices have made our lives much more convenient and efficient.
After the computers and the internet, artificial intelligence has become the new enhancer in our lives. From the desperate attempts of math departments in the 50s and the 60s to expert systems in the 90s, we have reached today. We can use cars on auto-pilots, use Google translate to communicate with foreigners, use countless apps to polish our photos, find the best restaurants using smart recommendation algorithms. The effect of AI in our lives will only increase. Artificial intelligence is now an indispensable and undisputed enabler in our lives, which enhances our life quality.
On the other hand, AI systems have already become so complicated that it has become pretty much impossible for a regular user to understand how it works. I am sure that no more than %1 of Google Translate users know how it works, but we trust the system anyway and use it extensively. But, we should know how the system works, or at least, we should be able to get information about it when necessary.
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