BCG GAMMA, in Collaboration with Scikit-Learn, Launches FACET, Its New Open-Source Library for Human-Explainable Artificial Intelligence

BCG GAMMA FACET Helps Human Operators Understand Advanced Machine Learning Models So They Can Make Better and More Ethical Decisions

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Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

Jan 12, 2021, 00:01 ET

BOSTON, Jan. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has released its first open-source software library for human-explainable artificial intelligence (AI). BCG GAMMA FACET enables users to make better business decisions by opening the "black box" of advanced machine learning models. Advances in AI have given data scientists powerful tools to analyze complex business problems and predict outcomes. FACET goes one step further, giving data scientists and business experts a new way to understand how a model arrives at predictions. With this new insight, data scientists can use machine learning models to inform decisions that save money, maximize yield, retain customers, remove bias, and improve patient outcomes.

BCG believes that humans must always be at the core of all AI-based decisions. By helping developers and business users understand how algorithms analyze the data sets on which AI predictions are based, BCG GAMMA FACET reestablishes human control over and trust in AI. It uses a newly developed model-inspection algorithm to explain the relationships between the model variables. And it applies a simulation approach to enable data scientists to conduct "virtual experiments" to determine how changes in these variables can affect predicted outcomes.

"Data scientists are often under pressure to explain the behavior of their models. This is precisely the aim of FACET: to explain the key variables in the models very quickly, in order to provide greater clarity in the dialogue between data scientists and operational teams. By facilitating the explicability of models, FACET contributes to the deployment of a more transparent and more responsible AI," says Sylvain Duranton, BCG managing director, senior partner, and global leader of BCG GAMMA.

"We are very glad that scikit-learn's simple and consistent design allowed BCG to develop FACET, a very valuable tool for our community," says Alexandre Gramfort, senior research scientist at Inria, co-author, and member of the scikit-learn technical committee.

"BCG GAMMA is very excited to join the open-source data science community with our public release of FACET," says Jan Ittner, BCG partner, associate director, and leader of the BCG GAMMA FACET team. "We look forward to working with the data science community and in partnership with scikit-learn to make AI more useful and understandable for everyone."

BCG GAMMA FACET is an intuitive, easy-to-implement, open-source software library available to the global data science community.

For more information about BCG GAMMA FACET, please contact Sophie Ruedinger at +49 170 334 4530 or [email protected].

For more media queries, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or [email protected].

ABOUT BCG GAMMA
BCG GAMMA is BCG's global team dedicated to applying artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to critical business problems at leading companies and organizations. The team includes 900-plus data scientists and engineers who utilize AI and advanced analytics (e.g., machine learning, deep learning, optimization, simulation, natural language and image analytics, etc.) to build solutions that transform business performance. BCG GAMMA's approach builds value and competitive advantage at the intersection of data science, technology, people, business processes, and ways of working. For more information, please visit our webpage.

About Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we help clients with total transformation—inspiring complex change, enabling organizations to grow, building competitive advantage, and driving bottom-line impact.

To succeed, organizations must blend digital and human capabilities. Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives to spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting along with technology and design, corporate and digital ventures—and business purpose. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, generating results that allow our clients to thrive.

SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG)