Intermediate · Research
Black box model
Visual diagram · (in preparation) · Math · (in preparation) · Worked example · 3 difficulty levels.
TL;DR. A model whose internal workings are opaque and difficult for humans to understand, despite knowing its inputs and outputs.
Technical Definition
A model whose internal workings are opaque and difficult for humans to understand, despite knowing its inputs and outputs.
How it works
A black box model is one where the reasoning process is not transparent or easily interpretable by humans. While we can observe how inputs lead to outputs, the exact internal mechanisms of decision-making are obscure. Many complex deep learning models are considered black boxes.
Related Concepts
- Deep Learning — A subset of machine learning using neural networks with many layers to learn hierarchical representations from large datasets.
- Interpretability — Understanding why a model makes the predictions it does, by inspecting its internals.
- Explainable AI (XAI) — A set of techniques that allow humans to understand the output of AI models, especially deep learning models.