Explaining the output of a black box model and a white box model: an illustrative comparison

Abstract: The thesis investigates how one should determine the appropriate transparency of an information processing system from a receiver perspective. Research in the past has suggested that the model should be maximally transparent for what is labeled as ”high stake decisions”. Instead of motivating the choice of a model’s transparency on the non-rigorous criterion that the model contributes to a high stake decision, this thesis explores an alternative method. The suggested method involves that one should let the transparency depend on how well an explanation of the model’s output satisfies the purpose of an explanation. As a result, we do not have to bother if it is a high stake decision, we should instead make sure the model is sufficiently transparent to provide an explanation that satisfies the expressed purpose of an explanation.