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Explainability

By Updated

In NIST's framing, a representation of the mechanisms behind a system's operation: how a decision was made 1. In practice a per-decision explanation such as feature attributions, reason codes or a counterfactual.

Developed in
ch. 16, Transparency, interpretability and explainability
ch. 11, Contrast pairs
Chapters
ch. 11, AI Defined · ch. 16, Fairness & XAI
Contrast with
Transparency · Interpretability
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Commonly confused

  • Transparency versus Explainability

    Transparency
    In NIST's framing, how far information about an AI system and its outputs reaches the people who interact with it: what happened.
    Explainability
    In NIST's framing, a representation of the mechanisms behind a system's operation: how a decision was made.

    The differenceWhat happened, from records of what ran, against how one decision was made.

    Why it mattersTwo artefacts: registry, cards and logs for the first; an explanation method with a fidelity test for the second.

Where it is used

8 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Explainability: mentions per chapter26 mentions of the term across 8 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter00 Preface: 1 mention00 Preface111 AI Defined: 7 mentions11 AI Defined713 Risk Management: 1 mention13 Risk Management114 Development: 1 mention14 Development116 Fairness & XAI: 11 mentions16 Fairness & XAI1118 EU AI Act: 1 mention18 EU AI Act121 AI Laws Worldwide: 1 mention21 AI Laws Worldwide122 Principles & Standards: 3 mentions22 Principles & Standards3No mentions in the other 15 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Explainability: mentions per chapter26 mentions of the term across 8 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter00 Preface: 1 mention10001020304050607081011 AI Defined: 7 mentions7111213 Risk Management: 1 mention11314 Development: 1 mention1141516 Fairness & XAI: 11 mentions11161718 EU AI Act: 1 mention118192021 AI Laws Worldwide: 1 mention12122 Principles & Standards: 3 mentions32223Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of Explainability per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface1No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns0No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map0No
10 Reading List0No
11 AI Defined7Yes
12 Governance Program0No
13 Risk Management1No
14 Development1No
15 Deployment0No
16 Fairness & XAI11Yes
17 Incidents0No
18 EU AI Act1No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide1No
22 Principles & Standards3No
23 AI Agents0No

Patterns that use this term

One pattern page uses the term.

Explainability: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastColour: stack layer of the pattern04 Runtime ControlsExplainabilityRelated terms (5)Concept drift · RelatedConcept driftData drift · RelatedData driftOECD AI Principles · RelatedOECD AI PrinciplesOpacity · RelatedOpacityReason code · RelatedReason codeContrast with (2)Interpretability · ContrastInterpretabilityTransparency · ContrastTransparencyPatterns using it (1)Explanation Artefact, 1 mention · Uses the termExplanation Artefact
Explainability: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastColour: stack layer of the pattern04 Runtime ControlsRelated terms (5)Concept drift · RelatedConcept driftData drift · RelatedData driftOECD AI Principles · RelatedOECD AI PrinciplesOpacity · RelatedOpacityReason code · RelatedReason codeContrast with (2)Interpretability · ContrastInterpretabilityTransparency · ContrastTransparencyPatterns using it (1)Explanation Artefact, 1 mention · Uses the termExplanation ArtefactExplainability
The term's neighbourhood Terms related to this one on solid edges, terms it is often confused with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer. Follow a dashed edge to check the distinction before you use either term.
Neighbourhood as a table
Neighbourhood of Explainability
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsConcept driftRelated
Related termsData driftRelated
Related termsOECD AI PrinciplesRelated
Related termsOpacityRelated
Related termsReason codeRelated
Contrast withInterpretabilityContrast
Contrast withTransparencyContrast
Patterns using itExplanation Artefact, 1 mentionUses the term
  • Concept drift

    A change in the relationship between a system's inputs and the correct output, so the same input should now get a different answer.

  • Data drift

    A change in the distribution of the inputs a system sees in production relative to the data it was validated on, such as a new customer segment or a changed…

  • Opacity

    The inability of a person to follow how a system reached an output.

  • OECD AI Principles

    The five values-based principles (inclusive growth and well-being; human rights, fairness and privacy; transparency and explainability; robustness, security…

  • Reason code

    A stable, human-readable statement of a principal factor behind an adverse decision, mapped from the factors the model actually scored and versioned with the…

Sources

  1. [1] Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0), NIST AI 100-1 (risk tolerance and residual risk; seven trustworthy characteristics; transparency answers "what happened", explainability "how", interpretability "why"; MAP 1.1 intended purposes; MANAGE 1.1 go/no-go determination; profiles). NIST. 2023-01-26. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AI.100-1 (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Explainability. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/explainability. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026explainability,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Explainability}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/explainability}
}