Útskýranleika

Útskýranleika is an Icelandic term that translates to "explainability" or "interpretability" in English. It refers to the quality of a model, system, or concept that allows for its inner workings and decision-making processes to be understood by humans. In essence, it is about whether one can comprehend why a particular outcome or prediction was made.

The concept of útskýranleika is particularly relevant in fields like artificial intelligence and machine learning. As models become more complex, such as deep neural networks, they can become "black boxes," making it difficult to understand how they arrive at their conclusions. This lack of transparency can be problematic, especially in sensitive applications like medical diagnoses, financial assessments, or legal judgments, where understanding the reasoning behind a decision is crucial for trust, accountability, and debugging.

Achieving útskýranleika often involves employing specific techniques or designing models with inherent interpretability. This might include using simpler, more transparent algorithms, generating explanations for complex model predictions, or visualizing the decision-making process. The goal is to move beyond simply knowing that a model works, to understanding *how* and *why* it works, thereby fostering greater confidence and enabling more informed use of such systems.