Paper ID: 2209.00651

Are we measuring trust correctly in explainability, interpretability, and transparency research?

Tim Miller

This paper presents an argument for why we are not measuring trust sufficiently in explainability, interpretability, and transparency research. Most studies ask participants to complete a trust scale to rate their trust of a model that has been explained/interpreted. If the trust is increased, we consider this a positive. However, there are two issues with this. First, we usually have no way of knowing whether participants should trust the model. Trust should surely decrease if a model is of poor quality. Second, these scales measure perceived trust rather than demonstrated trust. This paper showcases three methods that do a good job at measuring perceived and demonstrated trust. It is intended to be starting point for discussion on this topic, rather than to be the final say. The author invites critique and discussion.

Submitted: Aug 31, 2022