Black Box

Opaque AI systems whose inner workings are not transparent.

Overview

"Black Box" describes AI models—often deep neural networks—that produce outputs without easily interpretable decision processes. Even developers may struggle to see exactly how the model arrived at its conclusion.

Why It's Concerning

Lack of transparency can hinder trust, hamper debugging, and complicate regulatory or legal compliance (e.g., explaining algorithmic decisions in healthcare or finance).

Opposite of Explainable AI

While a black box suggests opacity, Explainable AI (XAI) aims to provide transparent reasoning or feature importance, bridging the gap in interpretability.