The seminar will study the concept of “explanation” in databases. Why did I get a specific answer? Why didn’t I get another answer that I expected to see? Which of the database tuples is responsible to the answers or non-answers? Why is the database inconsistent, that is, violates integrity constraints? Which of the tuples is responsible to the inconsistency? How do you measure the level of responsibility? What is the computational complexity of calculating different responsibility measures, exactly or approximately? How do you visualize complex data in a comprehensible manner? What techniques are used by systems to provide explanations effectively? In the seminar, we will study articles on the topic, some new and some older; in particular, we will learn how causality theory and game theory are used for defining explanations in a general manner that is domain independent.
Lecture Planning