#black boxes

Continuing with the black box shorts that are a small part of my Horizon Big Bang 2022 piece, When the Darkness Comes, because I think these soldiers’ stories deserve to be heard (even if I made them up).

Jagged Deep Black Box Transcript:

SECOND OFFICER BASSILI: I can't raise the airfield. Must've been destroyed.

CAPTAIN VEESENMEYER: Well, we're out of time and out of fuel. I have to put us down on that lake. Let's give these soldiers a chance to die fighting.

SECOND OFFICER BASSILI: This is the flight deck. We're going for a water landing. Leave everything behind except what you need for the fight. Now's your time to go out in a blaze of glory. Brace, brace!

Listen to the audio log on my photomode Twitter account here.

"This is the flight deck," Second Officer Bassili spoke over the intercom, voice smooth from practice, far too familiar with lying through her teeth. "We're going for a water landing. Leave everything behind except what you need for the fight. Now's your time to go out in a blaze of glory. Brace! Brace!"

In the cabin, a motley crew of soldiers—ten in total—did as they were told.

Many things happened simultaneously.

Hudson Fulton, the youngest, held on to his safety harness so tightly that his knuckles ached from the pressure. But he forced a cocky smile, buck-toothed and shockingly genuine. "Alright, boys! Who wants to take me on this time? Bet I can bring down one of those tin cans 'fore any of you can!"

Across from him, Otto Ramsey, who happened to be the oldest and the only veteran of the group, rolled his eyes. Young guns and their egos… He checked the laces on his boots, ensured his rifle's safety was on, and braced for impact.

Nina Bostock, one of the few women on board, took deep, shuddering breaths. A water landing. Of course it would be a water landing. Just her fucking luck.

Beside her, Talia Rahman, the only other woman on the squad, subtly brushed her fingers against Nina's clenched fist, offering what little comfort she could. Heedless of the whoops and cheers that scared boys emitted all around them to soothe their own fears, she murmured under her breath, "We've got this. I've got you."

And Brodie Higgs, who had not heard from his wife in nearly two months, was barely even aware of his surroundings. He simply did not care. He was tired. If a watery grave took him, he would happily sink. If he was lucky, maybe his wife would be waiting for him. Though with the choices he'd made over his forty years, an afterlife would only see him in hell. And his wife, his sweet Marie, deserved a fucking red carpet laid out before her through the gates of heaven. She always deserved better than him. These last two months had only sunk that truth into his psyche deeper and deeper. He did not grip his harness. He did not ready his weapon. He stared blankly at the floor and closed his eyes the moment they made impact. He was so tired...

The plane hit at a poor angle. The hull buckled instantly, and the screech of tearing metal was quickly drowned by the sound of rushing water. Both pilots and all ten soldiers perished.

Hudson, still raring to prove himself despite his fear, did his best to swim upward but drowned nevertheless, reaching out for that distant speck of sunlight.

Otto died instantly, his skull cracking against the wall of the plane.

Talia, struggling to pull Nina's body toward the surface with her, also drowned. She held onto Nina's hand until the moment she lost consciousness.

Brodie hit his head against the hard metal of his safety mechanism at the perfect angle, and was instantly knocked unconscious. If the blunt force of the blow didn't take him, then the murky depths surely did.

Black box Programming- Self-destruct and shatter programming sealed off into a black box to protect the system.

Black Boxes are certainly not mandated by law or anything (or it wasn’t while I was in Korea three years ago), but it’s pretty stupid socially to not have one. They were originally used by taxi drivers to protect them from passengers who don’t pay, but like many things in Korea, people saw its value and it became massively popular outside its intended sphere.

A Black Box is basically a dashboard camera that also records conversations inside the car. I think modern ones also record the speed you’re driving at and your location. The reason everyone has one is because there’s no better evidence when it comes to car insurance claims. In the past, you would just have to try and sound more convincing than the other driver. Now, people can just be like, “Check the Black Box, I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Sangwoo probably has one because in case he ever does get in a car accident, he’s probably going to want one. Honestly, I was surprised that he didn’t delete the recording from the rainy day from his Black Box? Also because everyone has Black Boxes nowadays, car vandals and thieves and insurance fraudsters specifically target the few cars without. Not having one is basically a target.

Not for you!

AI is becoming more powerful—but also more complex. Many models, especially deep learning systems, operate like “black boxes”: they make highly accurate predictions, but the reasoning behind them is often hidden. In high-stakes fields like healthcare, finance, and law, trust and accountability are just as critical as accuracy. That’s where Explainable AI (XAI) steps in.

🤖 XAI is about opening the black box—helping humans understand why AI made a decision, not just what it decided.

🔍 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐗𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠:

✅ 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬 Techniques like SHAP (Shapley Additive Explanations) and LIME highlight which factors most influenced a model’s prediction, making AI’s reasoning visible.

✅ 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 When doctors, bankers, or regulators can see why AI made a choice, adoption grows—and so does accountability.

✅ 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐢𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬 Transparent models expose hidden biases in data and predictions, ensuring fairer outcomes in hiring, lending, and justice systems.

✅ 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 + 𝐀𝐈 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 XAI allows humans to question, validate, and refine AI insights—leading to better decisions than either could achieve alone.

✅ 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 With increasing AI regulations worldwide, explainability isn’t just a feature—it’s a requirement.

📌 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: Explainable AI isn’t about weakening powerful models—it’s about making them trustworthy. In an era where AI impacts lives and livelihoods, XAI ensures technology remains accountable, transparent, and human-centered.

🔗 Read More: https://technologyaiinsights.com/