One of the key questions in current research on artificial intelligence (AI) is how comprehensible explanations and the underlying machine processes behind them can be achieved: should human users be able to explain how machines work, or should the machines learn how to explain themselves?
TRR 318’s very first conference, “Explaining Machines,” contains these two possibilities in the very name of the conference. The conference took place from 23–34 June at the CITEC Building on Bielefeld University’s campus and was organized by sub-project leads Prof. Dr. Elena Esposito (Bielefeld University) and Prof. Dr. Tobias Matzner (Paderborn University). Some 50 guests were in attendance for talks given by researchers Dr. Dominique Cardon, Prof. Dr. Philipp Cimiano, Prof. Dr. Elena Esposito, Prof. Dr. Mireille Hildebrandt, Prof. Dr. Tobias Matzner, Prof. Dr. Frank Pasquale, Dr. Bernhard Rieder and Dr. David Weinberger. The keynote talks looked at the topic of explanatory machines primarily from a social-science perspective. This was followed by the discussion rounds where participants contributed their diverse professional viewpoints.
The “Explaining Machines” conference was the first large-scale scientific event hosted by Transregio 318. Additional scientific conferences on the concept of Explainable Artificial Intelligence from a variety of disciplinary approaches will follow in the coming years.
More information about the conference is available at the conference site
