Schedule Explainer: An Argumentation-Supported Tool for Interactive Explanations in Makespan Scheduling

Abstract

Scheduling is a fundamental optimisation problem that has a wide range of practical applications. Mathematical formulations of scheduling problems allow for development of efficient solvers. Yet, the same mathematical intricacies often make solvers black-boxes: their outcomes are hardly explainable and interactive even to experts, let alone lay users. Still, in real-world applications as well as research environments, lay users and experts likewise require a means to understand why a schedule is reasonable and what would happen with different schedules. Building upon a recently proposed approach to argumentation-supported explainable scheduling, we present a tool, Schedule Explainer, that provides interactive explanations in makespan scheduling easily and with clarity.