The explainable AI (XAI) research community has proposed numerous technical methods, yet deploying explainability as systems remains challenging: Interactive explanation systems require both suitable algorithms and system capabilities that maintain explanation usability across repeated queries, evolving models and data, and governance constraints. We argue that operationalizing XAI requires treating explainability as an information systems problem where user interaction demands induce specific system requirements. We introduce X-SYS, a reference architecture for interactive explanation systems, that guides (X)AI researchers, developers and practitioners in connecting interactive explanation user interfaces (XUI) with system capabilities. X-SYS organizes around four quality attributes named STAR (scalability, traceability, responsiveness, and adaptability), and specifies a five-component decomposition (XUI Services, Explanation Services, Model Services, Data Services, Orchestration and Governance). It maps interaction patterns to system capabilities to decouple user interface evolution from backend computation. We implement X-SYS through SemanticLens, a system for semantic search and activation steering in vision-language models. SemanticLens demonstrates how contract-based service boundaries enable independent evolution, offline/online separation ensures responsiveness, and persistent state management supports traceability. Together, this work provides a reusable blueprint and concrete instantiation for interactive explanation systems supporting end-to-end design under operational constraints.

翻译：可解释人工智能（XAI）研究界已提出众多技术方法，然而将可解释性作为系统部署仍具挑战性：交互式解释系统既需要合适的算法，也需要系统能力来维持解释在重复查询、模型与数据演化以及治理约束下的可用性。我们认为，实现XAI的运作需要将可解释性视为信息系统问题，其中用户交互需求引发出特定的系统要求。本文提出X-SYS——一种交互式解释系统的参考架构，用于指导（X）AI研究者、开发者和从业者将交互式解释用户界面（XUI）与系统能力相连接。X-SYS围绕名为STAR（可扩展性、可追溯性、响应性与适应性）的四个质量属性进行组织，并规定了五组件分解结构（XUI服务、解释服务、模型服务、数据服务、编排与治理）。该架构将交互模式映射到系统能力，以实现用户界面演进与后端计算的解耦。我们通过SemanticLens系统实现了X-SYS，该系统用于视觉语言模型中的语义搜索与激活导向。SemanticLens展示了基于契约的服务边界如何支持独立演进，离线/在线分离如何确保响应性，以及持久状态管理如何支撑可追溯性。本工作共同为交互式解释系统提供了可复用的蓝图及具体实例，支持在运作约束下进行端到端设计。