Keynote speaker

Title: Presenting Users with Alternative Realities: Counterfactual, Semi-Factual, and Alterfactual Explanations in XAI

Abstract: In my talk, I will explore post-hoc XAI techniques that present users with alternative realities through counterfactual, semi-factual, and alterfactual explanations. Counterfactual explanations show modified input data that changes the AI’s decision, highlighting relevant features and necessary alterations for a different outcome. Semi-factual explanations follow a similar principle, modifying relevant features to an extent that does not change the AI’s decision. Recognizing that understanding irrelevant features is equally crucial, we recently introduced alterfactual explanations. Alterfactuals present alternative realities that lead to the same decision while altering irrelevant features, enhancing the comprehension of the AI's decision-making process. I will showcase applications developed in our lab, including explaining medical image analysis, understanding reinforcement learning agent behavior, and advising trainees on improving communication skills. Additionally, I will report on the results of user evaluations, demonstrating how the presented XAI techniques impact users' trust, satisfaction and overall understanding of the AI model.

Bio: Elisabeth André is a full professor of Computer Science and Founding Chair of Human-Centered Multimedia at Augsburg University in Germany. She has a long track record in multimodal human-machine interaction, embodied conversational agents, social robotics, affective computing, and social signal processing. Drawing on the concept of computer-based role play with virtual characters, she has promoted a novel form of experience-based learning, for example, to help children and young people cope with bullying at school, develop intercultural sensitivity or master socially challenging situations, such as job interviews. Elisabeth André has served as a General and Program Co-Chair of major international conferences including ACM International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI), ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interfaces (ICMI) or International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS). In 2010, Elisabeth André was elected a member of the prestigious Academy of Europe, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and AcademiaNet. To honor her achievements in bringing Artificial Intelligence techniques to HCI, she was awarded a EurAI fellowship (European Coordinating Committee for Artificial Intelligence) in 2013. Most recently, she was elected to the CHI Academy, an honorary group of leaders in the field of human-computer interaction.