Editable machine learning models? A rule-based framework for user studies of explainability

So far, most user studies dealing with comprehensibility of machine learning models have used questionnaires or surveys to acquire input from participants. In this article, we argue that compared to questionnaires, the use of an adapted version of a real machine learning interface can yield a new level of insight into what attributes make a machine learning model interpretable, and why. Also, we argue that interpretability research also needs to consider the task of humans editing the model, not least due to the existing or forthcoming legal requirements on the right of human intervention. In this article, we focus on rule models as these are directly interpretable as well as editable. We introduce an extension of the EasyMiner system for generating classification and explorative models based on association rules. The presented web-based rule editing software allows the user to perform common editing actions such as modify rule (add or remove attribute), delete rule, create new rule, or reorder rules. To observe the effect of a particular edit on predictive performance, the user can validate the rule list against a selected dataset using a scoring procedure. The system is equipped with functionality that facilitates its integration with crowdsourcing platforms commonly used to recruit participants.