Robust Explanations Through Uncertainty Decomposition: A Path to Trustworthier AI

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhu, Chenrui, Bounia, Louenas, Nguyen, Vu Linh, Destercke, Sébastien, Hoarau, Arthur
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Zhu, Chenrui
Bounia, Louenas
Nguyen, Vu Linh
Destercke, Sébastien
Hoarau, Arthur
author_facet Zhu, Chenrui
Bounia, Louenas
Nguyen, Vu Linh
Destercke, Sébastien
Hoarau, Arthur
contents Recent advancements in machine learning have emphasized the need for transparency in model predictions, particularly as interpretability diminishes when using increasingly complex architectures. In this paper, we propose leveraging prediction uncertainty as a complementary approach to classical explainability methods. Specifically, we distinguish between aleatoric (data-related) and epistemic (model-related) uncertainty to guide the selection of appropriate explanations. Epistemic uncertainty serves as a rejection criterion for unreliable explanations and, in itself, provides insight into insufficient training (a new form of explanation). Aleatoric uncertainty informs the choice between feature-importance explanations and counterfactual explanations. This leverages a framework of explainability methods driven by uncertainty quantification and disentanglement. Our experiments demonstrate the impact of this uncertainty-aware approach on the robustness and attainability of explanations in both traditional machine learning and deep learning scenarios.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_12913
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Robust Explanations Through Uncertainty Decomposition: A Path to Trustworthier AI
Zhu, Chenrui
Bounia, Louenas
Nguyen, Vu Linh
Destercke, Sébastien
Hoarau, Arthur
Machine Learning
Recent advancements in machine learning have emphasized the need for transparency in model predictions, particularly as interpretability diminishes when using increasingly complex architectures. In this paper, we propose leveraging prediction uncertainty as a complementary approach to classical explainability methods. Specifically, we distinguish between aleatoric (data-related) and epistemic (model-related) uncertainty to guide the selection of appropriate explanations. Epistemic uncertainty serves as a rejection criterion for unreliable explanations and, in itself, provides insight into insufficient training (a new form of explanation). Aleatoric uncertainty informs the choice between feature-importance explanations and counterfactual explanations. This leverages a framework of explainability methods driven by uncertainty quantification and disentanglement. Our experiments demonstrate the impact of this uncertainty-aware approach on the robustness and attainability of explanations in both traditional machine learning and deep learning scenarios.
title Robust Explanations Through Uncertainty Decomposition: A Path to Trustworthier AI
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12913