---
title: "Counterfactual explanation"
description: "An explanation that states the smallest change to the input that would have changed the outcome, restricted to features the person can actually change."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/counterfactual-explanation
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-24
---

# Counterfactual explanation

An explanation that states the smallest change to the input that would have changed the outcome, restricted to features the person can actually change [1]. It is the natural basis for recourse.

- Developed in: [ch. 16, Counterfactual explanations](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/fairness-and-explainability#counterfactual-explanations)
- Chapters: [ch. 16, Fairness & XAI](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/fairness-and-explainability)
- Contrast with: [Counterfactual fairness](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/counterfactual-fairness)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-counterfactual-explanation

## Sources

[1] "Counterfactual Explanations without Opening the Black Box: Automated Decisions and the GDPR" (Wachter, Mittelstadt and Russell; Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, 2018; arXiv 1711.00399). arXiv. 2017-11-01. https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.00399 (verified: primary)