2024/12/14 by Mario Refoyo, David Luengo, Refoyo, Mario +1 · 2 citations
Computer Science · Decision Sciences · #Time Series Analysis and Forecasting #Advanced Text Analysis Techniques #Forecasting Techniques and Applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.neucom.2026.134526
Deep Learning systems excel in complex tasks but often lack transparency, limiting their use in critical applications. Counterfactual explanations, a core tool within eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI), offer insights into model decisions by identifying minimal changes to an input to alter its predicted outcome. However, existing methods for time series data are limited by univariate assumptions, rigid constraints on modifications, or lack of validity guarantees. This paper introduces Multi-SpaCE, a multi-objective counterfactual explanation method for multivariate time series. Using non-dominated ranking genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II), Multi-SpaCE balances proximity, sparsity, plausibility, and contiguity. Unlike most methods, it ensures perfect validity, supports multivariate data and provides a Pareto front of solutions, enabling flexibility to different end-user needs. Comprehensive experiments in diverse datasets demonstrate the ability of Multi-SpaCE to consistently achieve perfect validity and deliver superior performance compared to existing methods.