Enhancing Explainable Artificial Intelligence: Using Adaptive Feature Weight Genetic Explanation (AFWGE) with Pearson Correlation to Identify Crucial Feature Groups

Ebtisam AlJalaud () and Manar Hosny
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Ebtisam AlJalaud: Computer Science Department, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 11564, Saudi Arabia
Manar Hosny: Computer Science Department, College of Computer and Information Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

Mathematics, 2024, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-48

Abstract: The ‘black box’ nature of machine learning (ML) approaches makes it challenging to understand how most artificial intelligence (AI) models make decisions. Explainable AI (XAI) aims to provide analytical techniques to understand the behavior of ML models. XAI utilizes counterfactual explanations that indicate how variations in input features lead to different outputs. However, existing methods must also highlight the importance of features to provide more actionable explanations that would aid in the identification of key drivers behind model decisions—and, hence, more reliable interpretations—ensuring better accuracy. The method we propose utilizes feature weights obtained through adaptive feature weight genetic explanation (AFWGE) with the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) to determine the most crucial group of features. The proposed method was tested on four real datasets with nine different classifiers for evaluation against a nonweighted counterfactual explanation method (CERTIFAI) and the original feature values’ correlation. The results show significant enhancements in accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score for most datasets and classifiers; this indicates the superiority of the feature weights selected via AFWGE with the PCC over CERTIFAI and the original data values in determining the most important group of features. Focusing on important feature groups elaborates the behavior of AI models and enhances decision making, resulting in more reliable AI systems.

Keywords: explainable artificial intelligence; counterfactual explanation; genetic algorithm; machine learning; feature importance; Pearson correlation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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