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<p>Since 2016 a significant program of work has been developed under the title of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI). This program, prompted and extensively funded by DARPA, has sought to address the reasoning behind decisions or recommendations of AI systems. As AI systems often have concealed or <em>black box</em> characteristics, the problem of explainability is a significant challenge. XAI has been described as a movement rather than a single technology approach. Many thousands of papers have examined the problem, and diverse approaches have been put forward. One approach encouraged by DARPA has since become known as post-hoc reasoning, applying inductive reasoning. This research examines the claim to accuracy of post-hoc explanations, applying the perspective of the philosophy of technologyAs AI systems are already being used to determine who should have access to scarce resources and who should be punished and in what way, the accuracy of an explanation is an important ethical issue. . This paper asserts that technologists as experts in AI technology hold a unique ethical responsibility to clarify to a wider audience the limitations of knowledge about the workings of black box AI systems, and to avoid narratives that encourage uncritical acceptance of technology promise. The paper also proposes practical ways in which to approach the use of post-hoc reasoning where appropriate. </p>

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Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are a recent socio-technical innovation that seeks to disrupt the existing monetary system. Through mundane uses of this new digital cash, they provide a social critique of the centralized infrastructures of the banking industry. This paper outlines an ethnographic research agenda for this new digital frontier of social practice and exchange and the human affordances of engaging with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Firstly we argue that the use of Bitcoin can be seen as acts of social resistance and a form of social mobility that harnesses the emergent, serendipitous and dynamic properties of digital community. We then outline the disruptive nature of borderless, affordable and instantaneous international transfers within social practice. Finally, we identify the possible permutations of trust that may be found in the technical affordances of Bitcoin and how these relate to user (pseudo)anonymity, cybertheft, cyberfraud, and consumer protection. Bringing together these three key areas we highlight the importance of understanding the ordinary (rather than extra-ordinary) uses of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. We contend that focusing upon users interactions with Bitcoin as a system and culture will shed light upon mundane acts of socio-technical disruption, acts that critique and provide alternative financial exchange practices to the economic and regulatory financial infrastructures of the centralised banking industry.

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