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）研究社区已提出众多技术方法，但将可解释性部署为系统仍面临挑战：交互式解释系统需兼顾合适的算法与系统能力，以在重复查询、模型与数据持续演化及治理约束下维持解释的可用性。本文提出，实现可解释性需将其视为信息系统问题——用户交互需求会催生特定的系统要求。我们引入X-SYS，一种面向交互式解释系统的参考架构，用于指导（X）AI研究人员、开发者和实践者将交互式解释用户界面（XUI）与系统能力相连接。X-SYS围绕四项质量属性（STAR：可扩展性、可追溯性、响应性和适应性）进行组织，并指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至系统能力，以解耦用户界面演进与后端计算。我们通过SemanticLens实现了X-SYS——一个面向视觉-语言模型的语义搜索与激活引导系统。SemanticLens展示了基于契约的服务边界如何支持独立演进、离线/在线分离如何保证响应性、持久状态管理如何支撑可追溯性。综上，本研究为满足运行约束下端到端设计的交互式解释系统提供了可复用蓝图与具体实例化方案。