Universität zu Köln

Trapp, Anna ORCID: 0009-0008-6992-7644 (2024). Generation of Counterfactual Explanations in Smart Environments. Masters thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

Explainability is increasingly seen as an essential feature of rule-based smart environments. While counterfactual explanations, which describe what could have been done differently to achieve a desired outcome, are a powerful tool in eXplainable AI (XAI), no established methods exist for generating them in these rule-based domains. In this paper, we present the first formalization and implementation of counterfactual explanations tailored to this domain. It is implemented as a plugin that extends an existing explanation engine for smart environments. We conducted a human-centered study (N=17) to evaluate our generated counterfactuals against traditional causal explanations. The results show that user preference is highly contextual: causal explanations are favored for their linguistic simplicity and in time-pressured situations, while counterfactuals are preferred for their actionable content, particularly when a user wants to resolve a problem. Our work contributes a practical framework for a new type of explanation in smart environments and provides empirical evidence to guide the choice of when each explanation type is most effective.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Trapp, Anna atrapp.koeln@gmail.com orcid.org/0009-0008-6992-7644 UNSPECIFIED
Contributors:	Contribution Name Email Censor UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-788134
Date:	23 December 2024
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences > Department of Mathematics and Computer Science > Institute of Computer Science
Subjects:	Data processing Computer science
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Explanation English Explainable Systems English Counterfactual Explanation English Smart Environment English
Date of oral exam:	10 February 2025
Referee:	Name Academic Title Vogelsang, Andreas UNSPECIFIED Sadeghi, Mersedeh UNSPECIFIED
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/78813