"AI is not really a black box", an essay that shakes up the debate on transparency

This essay relativizes the conventional wisdom that AI models are inherently inexplicable, by comparing it to the equally real opacity of human reasoning.

Faced with the recurring criticism of AI models of being "black boxes" impossible to interpret, this essay defends a more nuanced position: modern AI systems would in many ways be more transparent than humans themselves. The author argues that the implicit comparison — an opaque AI against a clear human reasoning — does not resist examination, since human cognition is also largely unfathomable for science.

The text is part of a broader debate on the explicability of AI (XAI), fuelled by the new transparency requirements of the European AI Act, which already impose obligations on systems of general use and provide even stricter deadlines for so-called "high risk" systems.