On Tractable XAI Queries based on Compiled Representations

Abstract

One of the key purposes of eXplainable AI (XAI) is to develop techniques for understanding predictions made by Machine Learning (ML) models and for assessing how much reliable they are. Several encoding schemas have recently been pointed out, showing how ML classifiers of various types can be mapped to Boolean circuits exhibiting the same input-output behaviours. Thanks to such mappings, XAI queries about classifiers can be delegated to the corresponding circuits. In this paper, we define new explanation and/or verification queries about classifiers. We show how they can be addressed by combining queries and transformations about the associated Boolean circuits. Taking advantage of previous results from the knowledge compilation map, this allows us to identify a number of XAI queries that are tractable provided that the circuit has been first turned into a compiled representation.