Lighting up the black box: a must for investors?

Many contend you must be able to interpret machine learning in order to use it

The enigma of the black box applies not just to its mystifying workings, but also to the origin of its name. One credible story is that World War II pilots coined it to describe their new-fangled navigational equipment. Not knowing what radar wizardry took place inside the box – or how it performed its apparent miracles – didn’t deter the pilots from doing their jobs.

Machine learning in investing, however, is a different story. Here, the so-called black-box problem – whether to use a model