{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7167735818","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1613/jair.1.20924","title":"Towards Verified and Targeted Explanations through Formal Methods","display_name":"Towards Verified and Targeted Explanations through Formal Methods","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-07-08","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7167735818","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1613/jair.1.20924"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1613/jair.1.20924","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1613/jair.1.20924","pdf_url":"https://www.jair.org/index.php/jair/article/download/20924/27323","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S139930977","display_name":"Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research","issn_l":"1076-9757","issn":["1076-9757","1943-5037"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310315760","host_organization_name":"AI Access Foundation","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310315760"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["AI Access Foundation"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref","doaj"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"diamond","oa_url":"https://www.jair.org/index.php/jair/article/download/20924/27323","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5057891786","display_name":"Hanchen David Wang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5990-5865"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I200719446","display_name":"Vanderbilt University","ror":"https://ror.org/02vm5rt34","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I200719446"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Hanchen David Wang","raw_affiliation_strings":["a:1:{s:5:\"en_US\";s:21:\"Vanderbilt University\";}"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5990-5865","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"a:1:{s:5:\"en_US\";s:21:\"Vanderbilt University\";}","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I200719446"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5021939745","display_name":"Diego Manzanas Lopez","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0721-1241"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Diego Lopez","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0721-1241","affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5028566361","display_name":"Preston K. Robinette","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4906-2179"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Preston Robinette","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4906-2179","affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5020532873","display_name":"\u0130pek O\u011fuz","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1403-2420"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ipek Oguz","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1403-2420","affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5067901159","display_name":"Taylor T. Johnson","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8021-9923"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Taylor Johnson","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8021-9923","affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5007967134","display_name":"Meiyi Ma","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6916-8774"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Meiyi Ma","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6916-8774","affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":1,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.93452157,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":"86","issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12026","display_name":"Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)","score":0.9061999917030334,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12026","display_name":"Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)","score":0.9061999917030334,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11689","display_name":"Adversarial Robustness in Machine Learning","score":0.06989999860525131,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10775","display_name":"Generative Adversarial Networks and Image Synthesis","score":0.002300000051036477,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/robustness","display_name":"Robustness (evolution)","score":0.5827000141143799},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/reachability","display_name":"Reachability","score":0.5523999929428101},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/formal-methods","display_name":"Formal methods","score":0.5260999798774719},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/property","display_name":"Property (philosophy)","score":0.4675000011920929},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/feature","display_name":"Feature (linguistics)","score":0.46630001068115234},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/heuristic","display_name":"Heuristic","score":0.461899995803833},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/bridging","display_name":"Bridging (networking)","score":0.43950000405311584},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/rule-of-thumb","display_name":"Rule of thumb","score":0.42399999499320984},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/heuristics","display_name":"Heuristics","score":0.4171000123023987}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7508000135421753},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C63479239","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7353546","display_name":"Robustness (evolution)","level":3,"score":0.5827000141143799},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.5631999969482422},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C136643341","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1361526","display_name":"Reachability","level":2,"score":0.5523999929428101},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C75606506","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1049183","display_name":"Formal methods","level":2,"score":0.5260999798774719},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C189950617","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q937228","display_name":"Property (philosophy)","level":2,"score":0.4675000011920929},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776401178","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12050496","display_name":"Feature (linguistics)","level":2,"score":0.46630001068115234},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C173801870","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q201413","display_name":"Heuristic","level":2,"score":0.461899995803833},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C174348530","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q188635","display_name":"Bridging (networking)","level":2,"score":0.43950000405311584},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C89246107","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1398821","display_name":"Rule of thumb","level":2,"score":0.42399999499320984},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C127705205","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5748245","display_name":"Heuristics","level":2,"score":0.4171000123023987},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C111498074","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q173326","display_name":"Formal verification","level":2,"score":0.4047999978065491},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C153701036","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q659974","display_name":"Trustworthiness","level":2,"score":0.38690000772476196},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.366100013256073},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26517878","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228039","display_name":"Key (lock)","level":2,"score":0.3386000096797943},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C165064840","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1321061","display_name":"Matching (statistics)","level":2,"score":0.32010000944137573},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C184992742","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7243229","display_name":"Prime (order theory)","level":2,"score":0.31349998712539673},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778775528","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5135432","display_name":"Closing (real estate)","level":2,"score":0.3118000030517578},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C144701195","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10859910","display_name":"Theory","level":2,"score":0.3107999861240387},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2985583900","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q722617","display_name":"Formal description","level":2,"score":0.3043000102043152},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C139676723","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1193832","display_name":"Sign (mathematics)","level":2,"score":0.3027999997138977},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C110251889","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1569697","display_name":"Model checking","level":2,"score":0.29109999537467957},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C164226766","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7293202","display_name":"Rank (graph theory)","level":2,"score":0.27559998631477356},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C195344581","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2555318","display_name":"Automated reasoning","level":2,"score":0.27459999918937683},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177264268","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1514741","display_name":"Set (abstract data type)","level":2,"score":0.2685999870300293},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778827112","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22245680","display_name":"Feature engineering","level":3,"score":0.2685000002384186},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C62354387","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q875399","display_name":"Boundary (topology)","level":2,"score":0.25459998846054077},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C191399111","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q64861","display_name":"Transitive relation","level":2,"score":0.2542000114917755}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1613/jair.1.20924","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1613/jair.1.20924","pdf_url":"https://www.jair.org/index.php/jair/article/download/20924/27323","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S139930977","display_name":"Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research","issn_l":"1076-9757","issn":["1076-9757","1943-5037"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310315760","host_organization_name":"AI Access Foundation","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310315760"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["AI Access Foundation"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1613/jair.1.20924","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1613/jair.1.20924","pdf_url":"https://www.jair.org/index.php/jair/article/download/20924/27323","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S139930977","display_name":"Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research","issn_l":"1076-9757","issn":["1076-9757","1943-5037"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310315760","host_organization_name":"AI Access Foundation","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310315760"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["AI Access Foundation"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"display_name":"Peace, Justice and strong institutions","id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/16","score":0.5872220396995544}],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G2206300170","display_name":"CAREER: Explainability for Integrated Cyber-Physical Systems","funder_award_id":"2443803","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","funder_display_name":"National Science Foundation"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G2668951283","display_name":"FMitF: Track I: Generative Neural Network Verification in Medical Imaging Analysis","funder_award_id":"2220401","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","funder_display_name":"National Science Foundation"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G4713059963","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"FA8750","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320332180","funder_display_name":"Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G5725600090","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"FA8750-23-C-0518","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320332180","funder_display_name":"Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G8494110043","display_name":"ReDDDoT Phase 1: Planning Grant: Towards Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of a GenAI-enabled System for Dispatcher Training in Emergency Response","funder_award_id":"2427711","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","funder_display_name":"National Science Foundation"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","display_name":"National Science Foundation","ror":"https://ror.org/021nxhr62"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320332180","display_name":"Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency","ror":"https://ror.org/02caytj08"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320332815","display_name":"Advanced Research Projects Agency","ror":"https://ror.org/02caytj08"}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":true,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7167735818.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7167735818.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"As":[0],"deep":[1],"neural":[2],"networks":[3],"are":[4,23],"deployed":[5],"in":[6],"safety-critical":[7,85],"domains":[8],"such":[9],"as":[10,327],"autonomous":[11],"driving":[12],"and":[13,142,167,198,272,301,315,330],"medical":[14],"diagnosis,":[15],"stakeholders":[16],"need":[17],"explanations":[18,157,284],"of":[19,38,77,285],"model":[20],"behavior":[21],"that":[22,149,207,250,305],"not":[24,88],"only":[25],"interpretable":[26],"but":[27,54],"also":[28],"trustworthy":[29,331],"with":[30,110,158],"formal":[31,63,146,202,248,273],"guarantees.":[32,160],"Existing":[33],"XAI":[34,147],"methods":[35,65],"fall":[36],"short":[37],"this":[39,151,242],"requirement:":[40],"heuristic":[41],"attribution":[42],"techniques":[43],"(e.g.,":[44,311],"LIME,":[45],"Integrated":[46],"Gradients)":[47],"highlight":[48],"influential":[49],"features":[50,210,231],"for":[51,98,333],"individual":[52],"predictions":[53],"offer":[55],"no":[56],"mathematical":[57,159],"guarantees":[58],"about":[59],"decision":[60],"boundaries,":[61],"while":[62],"explanation":[64,317],"verify":[66],"robustness":[67],"properties":[68],"yet":[69],"remain":[70],"untargeted,":[71],"analyzing":[72],"the":[73,182,189,217,277],"nearest":[74],"boundary":[75],"regardless":[76],"whether":[78,252],"it":[79,109,180,200],"represents":[80],"a":[81,95,99,111,118,123,130,134,145,162,168,224,247,262,286,328],"critical":[82,170,230],"risk.":[83],"In":[84],"systems,":[86],"however,":[87],"all":[89],"misclassifications":[90],"carry":[91],"equal":[92],"consequences;":[93],"confusing":[94,108],"\u201cStop\u201d":[96],"sign":[97,102],"\u201c60":[100],"kph\u201d":[101],"is":[103,129,213,276],"far":[104],"more":[105],"dangerous":[106],"than":[107],"\u201cNo":[112],"Passing\u201d":[113],"sign.":[114],"Practitioners":[115],"therefore":[116],"lack":[117],"principled":[119],"way":[120],"to":[121,188,205,215,219,280,320],"answer":[122],"fundamental":[124],"safety":[125],"question:":[126],"how":[127],"resilient":[128],"model\u2019s":[131,287],"classification":[132,218,235,297],"against":[133,238,289],"specific,":[135,290],"high-risk":[136],"alternative?":[137],"We":[138,240],"introduce":[139],"ViTaX":[140,174,275,306,326],"(Verified":[141],"Targeted":[143,245],"Explanations),":[144],"framework":[148],"addresses":[150],"gap":[152],"by":[153,211,233],"generating":[154],"targeted":[155,335],"semifactual":[156,268],"For":[161],"given":[163],"input":[164],"(class":[165,172],"y)":[166],"user-specified":[169],"alternative":[171],"t),":[173],"performs":[175],"two":[176],"key":[177],"steps:":[178],"(1)":[179],"identifies":[181],"minimal":[183,316],"feature":[184,255],"subset":[185,256],"most":[186],"sensitive":[187],"y":[190,236],"\u2192":[191],"t":[192],"transition":[193],"using":[194],"class-specific":[195,270],"sensitivity":[196],"heuristics,":[197],"(2)":[199],"applies":[201],"reachability":[203],"analysis":[204],"guarantee":[206,222],"perturbing":[208],"these":[209,229],"\u03b5":[212,234],"insufficient":[214],"flip":[216],"t.":[220],"This":[221],"constitutes":[223],"verified":[225],"semifactual:":[226],"\u201ceven":[227],"if":[228],"change":[232],"persists":[237],"t.\"":[239],"formalize":[241],"reasoning":[243],"through":[244],"\u03b5-Robustness,":[246],"property":[249],"certifies":[251],"an":[253],"identified":[254],"remains":[257],"robust":[258],"under":[259],"perturbation":[260],"toward":[261],"specific":[263],"target":[264],"class.":[265],"By":[266],"unifying":[267],"explanations,":[269],"targeting,":[271],"verification,":[274],"first":[278],"method":[279],"provide":[281],"formally":[282],"guaranteed":[283],"resilience":[288],"user-identified":[291],"alternatives.":[292],"Our":[293],"evaluations":[294],"on":[295],"image":[296],"(MNIST,":[298],"GTSRB,":[299],"EMNIST)":[300],"regression":[302],"(TaxiNet)":[303],"demonstrate":[304],"achieves":[307],"significantly":[308],"higher":[309],"fidelity":[310],"over":[312],"30%":[313],"improvement)":[314],"cardinality":[318],"compared":[319],"existing":[321],"methods.":[322],"These":[323],"results":[324],"establish":[325],"scalable":[329],"foundation":[332],"verifiable,":[334],"XAI.":[336]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-07-10T05:49:55.623906","created_date":"2026-07-09T00:00:00"}