Black Box Model
An AI model whose internal workings are opaque or too complex for humans to understand, making it difficult to explain how specific inputs lead to outputs.
In plain language
An AI where you know what goes in and what comes out, but you cannot follow the reasoning in between. You cannot easily explain why the AI rejected a loan application or promoted one job candidate over another.
Why this matters
Black box models create governance challenges because they make accountability difficult. Your governance policy should specify which decisions can use black box models and what compensating controls are required, such as enhanced monitoring, regular audits or limiting their use to low-stakes decisions.
Relevance
GovernanceBlack box models raise accountability questions that require governance decisions about acceptable use cases and required compensating controls.
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