# Global Counterfactual Explanations: Investigations, Implementations and Improvements

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2204.06917 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.06917/

## Key facts

- Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 17 of its 29 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 14 Apr 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 17 of 17)

- [Counterfactual Explanations without Opening the Black Box: Automated Decisions and the GDPR](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.00399/) (2017)
- [Explaining Machine Learning Classifiers through Diverse Counterfactual Explanations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.07697/) (2019)
- [Actionable Recourse in Linear Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.06514/) (2018)
- [FACE: Feasible and Actionable Counterfactual Explanations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.09369/) (2019)
- [Interpretable Counterfactual Explanations Guided by Prototypes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.02584/) (2019)
- [Preserving Causal Constraints in Counterfactual Explanations for Machine Learning Classifiers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.03277/) (2019)
- [A survey of algorithmic recourse: definitions, formulations, solutions, and prospects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.04050/) (2020)
- [The Hidden Assumptions Behind Counterfactual Explanations and Principal Reasons](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.04930/) (2019)
- [Counterfactual Explanations Can Be Manipulated](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.02666/) (2021)
- [CARLA: A Python Library to Benchmark Algorithmic Recourse and Counterfactual Explanation Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.00783/) (2021)
- [Interpretable Predictions of Tree-based Ensembles via Actionable Feature Tweaking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.06691/) (2017)
- [Rethinking Explainability as a Dialogue: A Practitioner's Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.01875/) (2022)
- [FOCUS: Flexible Optimizable Counterfactual Explanations for Tree Ensembles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.12199/) (2019)
- [Optimal Counterfactual Explanations in Tree Ensembles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.06631/) (2021)
- [BRPO: Batch Residual Policy Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.05522/) (2020)
- [Diverse, Global and Amortised Counterfactual Explanations for Uncertainty Estimates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.02646/) (2021)
- [Explaining Groups of Points in Low-Dimensional Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.01640/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [Robust Counterfactual Explanations for Tree-Based Ensembles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.02739/) (2022)
- [Robust Counterfactual Explanations for Neural Networks With Probabilistic Guarantees](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.11997/) (2023)
- [Fairness Aware Counterfactuals for Subgroups](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.14978/) (2023)
- [GLANCE: Global Actions in a Nutshell for Counterfactual Explainability](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.18921/) (2024)
- [Unifying Perspectives: Plausible Counterfactual Explanations on Global, Group-wise, and Local Levels](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.17642/) (2024)
- [Counterfactual Explanations for Model Ensembles Using Entropic Risk Measures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.07934/) (2025)
- [FALE: Fairness-Aware ALE Plots for Auditing Bias in Subgroups](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.18685/) (2024)
- [Global Graph Counterfactual Explanation: A Subgraph Mapping Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.19978/) (2024)
- [Optimal Transport Group Counterfactual Explanations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.20692/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Counterfactual explanations have been widely studied in explainability, with a range of application dependent methods emerging in fairness, recourse and model understanding. However, the major shortcoming associated with these methods is their inability to provide explanations beyond the local or instance-level. While some works touch upon the notion of a global explanation, typically suggesting to aggregate masses of local explanations in the hope of ascertaining global properties, few provide frameworks that are either reliable or computationally tractable. Meanwhile, practitioners are requesting more efficient and interactive explainability tools. We take this opportunity to investigate existing global methods, with a focus on implementing and improving Actionable Recourse Summaries (AReS), the only known global counterfactual explanation framework for recourse.