Right to Explanation
The legal or ethical right of individuals to receive a meaningful explanation when they are subject to a decision made by an automated system, as established in regulations such as the GDPR.
In plain language
If an AI makes a decision about you, such as denying your insurance claim, you have the legal right to ask "why?" and get an understandable answer. This is law in the EU under GDPR.
Why this matters
While formal right-to-explanation obligations are strongest under GDPR, Australian organisations deploying automated decision-making systems should expect similar pressure from regulators and customers. Your governance framework must ensure that AI systems in scope can generate meaningful explanations and that processes exist for handling explanation requests.
Relevance
GovernanceProviding meaningful explanations for AI decisions requires model choice, documentation and human review procedures that must be built in during implementation, not bolted on after deployment.
Related terms
Putting right to explanation into practice in your organisation?
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