Minimal and complete explanations for critical multi-attribute decisions

Abstract

The ability to provide explanations along with recommended decisions to the user is a key feature of decision-aiding tools. We address the question of providing minimal and complete explanations, a problem relevant in critical situations where the stakes are very high. More specifically, we are after explanations with minimal cost supporting the fact that a choice is the weighted Condorcet winner in a multi-attribute problem. We introduce different languages for explanation, and investigate the problem of producing minimal explanations with such languages. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.