How to Build Self-Explaining Fuzzy Systems: From Interpretability to Explainability

Abstract

Fuzzy systems are known to provide not only accurate but also interpretable predictions. However, their explainability may be undermined if non-semantically grounded linguistic terms are used. Additional non-trivial challenges would arise if a prediction were to be explained counterfactually, i.e., in terms of hypothetical, non-predicted outputs. In this paper, we explore how both factual and counterfactual automated explanations can justify the output of fuzzy rule-based classifiers, and thus contribute to making them more trustworthy. Moreover, we demonstrate how end user preferences can be handled by customizing automated explanations, making them interactive, personalized, and therefore, human-centric. The full immersive article at IEEE Xplore provides detailed interactive examples for better understanding.