arXiv AI

Counterfactual Analysis via Large Language Models

arXiv:2608. 05367v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Counterfactual analysis aims to predict potential outcomes under hypothetical scenarios, offering valuable insights for decision-making.

arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 27

iFlip: Iterative Feedback-driven Counterfactual Example Refinement

iFlip is an iterative refinement method for generating counterfactual examples using large language models. It incorporates three feedback types—model confidence, feature attribution, and natural language—to guide successive edits. Experiments show iFlip outperforms five state‑of‑the‑art baselines, achieving a 57.8% higher validity rate and improving model performance through counterfactual data augmentation.

By Yilong Wang, Qianli Wang, Nils Feldhus
arXiv AI
3d ago

Reasoning Externalization for Faithful Large Language Model Narratives of Stock Return Predictions

The paper introduces a framework that uses large language models (LLMs) to generate natural‑language narratives explaining cross‑sectional stock return predictions. It combines temporal Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) from an XGBoost model with historical regime analogs to provide context. A controlled study shows that progressively externalizing numerical and relational reasoning improves evidence faithfulness and accuracy, while historical analogs boost human‑rated usefulness.

By Sujung Kim, Seung Hwan Cho, Sangjin Park, Young-Min Kim
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 16

Foundation Models for Credit Risk Prediction: A Game Changer?

arXiv:2605. 18147v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Predictive models play a pivotal role in credit risk management, guiding critical decisions through accurate estimation of default probabilities and losses.

By Bart Baesens, Andreas Goethals, Stefan Lessmann, Simon De Vos, Cristi\'an Bravo, David Martens, Victor Medina-Olivares, Christophe Mues, Maria Oskarsd\'ottir, Seppe vanden Broucke, Tony Van Gestel, Tim Verdonck, Wouter Verbeke
arXiv AI
Aug 19

Communicating Credit Risk with Large Language Models: Evaluation of Explanations from Standard and Alternative Data-Based Models

The study investigates whether Large Language Models (LLMs) can translate technical explanations from credit risk models into stakeholder-friendly narratives. Using Freddie Mac loan data, the authors compare standard tabular models (XGBoost + SHAP) with alternative data pipelines (GNN + GNNExplainer and a bimodal mix) and generate explanations with three LLM configurations: a small fine‑tuned Gemma 3 4B, a large fine‑tuned DeepSeek R1 70B, and a zero‑shot Gemini 2.5. Findings show that the quality of explanations is more dependent on the evidence representation than on the LLM, that narratives reliably identify influential factors but are less consistent about the direction of influence, and that credit professionals demand higher evidentiary standards than non‑professionals.

By Sahab Zandi, Noah Kostesku, Christophe Mues, Mar\'ia \'Oskarsd\'ottir, Cristi\'an Bravo
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 14

Aligning Language Models with Observational Data: Opportunities and Risks from a Causal Perspective

The paper discusses how large language models (LLMs) can be fine‑tuned with observational data to improve alignment with human preferences and business goals. It highlights that directly using such data can cause models to learn spurious correlations, and introduces DeconfoundLM, a method that removes known confounders from reward signals. Experiments show that DeconfoundLM better recovers causal relationships and outperforms baseline methods by over 16% in objective score when confounding is present.

By Erfan Loghmani