Feb 8, 2021 Fujitsu Laboratories and Hokkaido University have announced the development of a new technology based on the principle of “explainable AI” that automatically presents users with steps needed to achieve a desired outcome based on AI results about data, for example, from medical checkups. “Explainable AI” represents an area of increasing interest in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning. While AI technologies can automatically make decisions from data, “explainable AI” also provides individual reasons for these decisions–this helps avoid the so-called “black box” phenomenon, in which AI reaches conclusions through unclear and potentially problematic means. While certain techniques can also provide hypothetical improvements one could take when an undesirable outcome occurs for individual items, these do not provide any concrete steps to improve.