English

Explanation Hacking: The perils of algorithmic recourse

Computers and Society 2024-06-19 v1 Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

We argue that the trend toward providing users with feasible and actionable explanations of AI decisions, known as recourse explanations, comes with ethical downsides. Specifically, we argue that recourse explanations face several conceptual pitfalls and can lead to problematic explanation hacking, which undermines their ethical status. As an alternative, we advocate that explanations of AI decisions should aim at understanding.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2406.11843,
  title  = {Explanation Hacking: The perils of algorithmic recourse},
  author = {Emily Sullivan and Atoosa Kasirzadeh},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.11843},
  year   = {2024}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T17:09:07.673Z