Abstract
Machine learning (ML) models make decisions for governments, companies, and individuals. Accordingly, there is the increasing concern of not having a rich explanatory and predictive account of the behaviour of these ML models relative to the users’ interests (goals) and (pre-)conceptions (ontologies). We argue that the recent research trends in finding better characterisations of what a ML model does are leading to the view of ML models as complex behavioural systems. A good explanation for a model should depend on how well it describes the behaviour of the model in simpler, more comprehensible, or more understandable terms according to a given context. Consequently, we claim that a more contextual abstraction is necessary (as is done in system theory and psychology), which is very much like building a subjective mind modelling problem. We bring some research evidence of how this partial and subjective modelling of machine learning models can take place, suggesting that more machine learning is the answer.
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Acknowledgements
This material is based upon work supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under award number FA9550-17-1-0287, the EU (FEDER), and the Spanish MINECO under grant TIN 2015-69175-C4-1-R, the Generalitat Valenciana PROMETEOII/2015/013. F. Martínez-Plumed was also supported by INCIBE (Ayudas para la excelencia de los equipos de investigación avanzada en ciberseguridad). J. H-Orallo also received a Salvador de Madariaga grant (PRX17/00467) from the Spanish MECD for a research stay at the CFI, Cambridge, and a BEST grant (BEST/2017/045) from the GVA for another research stay at the CFI.
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Fabra-Boluda, R., Ferri, C., Hernández-Orallo, J., Martínez-Plumed, F., Ramírez-Quintana, M.J. (2018). Modelling Machine Learning Models. In: Müller, V. (eds) Philosophy and Theory of Artificial Intelligence 2017. PT-AI 2017. Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics, vol 44. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96448-5_16
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