Black Box Models

DSA ADS Course, 2022

Data Quality, Black Box Models, Bad Models, Origins of SARS-CoV-2, Epidemiology, Non-pharmaceutical Interventions, Mitigation Strategies, COVID19, Health Policy, Public Policy

Review data quality evaluations, bad model design, policy decision-making based on data science, black box models, unwarranted assumptions in models, and evidence based policy making with near real-time data.

November, 2018

Abstract

There are black box models now being used for high stakes decision-making throughout society. The practice of trying to explain black box models, rather than creating models that are interpretable in the first place, is likely to perpetuate bad practices and can potentially cause catastrophic harm to society. There is a way forward – it is to design models that are inherently interpretable.