Why a Right to an Explanation of Algorithmic Decision-Making Should Exist: A Trust-Based Approach

Businesses increasingly rely on algorithms that are data-trained sets of decision rules (i.e., the output of the processes often called "machine learning") and implement decisions with little or no human intermediation. In this article, we provide a philosophical foundation for the claim that algorithmic decision-making gives rise to a "right to explanation." It is often said that, in the digital era, informed consent is dead. This negative view originates from a rigid understanding that presumes informed consent is a static and complete transaction. Such a view is insufficient, especially when data are used in a secondary, noncontextual, and unpredictable manner-which is the inescapable nature of advanced artificial intelligence systems. We submit that an alternative view of informed consent-as an assurance of trust for incomplete transactions-allows for an understanding of why the rationale of informed consent already entails a right to ex post explanation.