Machine Learning and Theory Ladenness -- A Phenomenological Account

We provide an analysis of theory ladenness in machine learning in science, where “theory”, that we call “domain theory”, refers to the domain knowledge of the scientific discipline where ML is used. By constructing an account of ML models based on a comparison with phenomenological models, we show, against recent trends in philosophy of science, that ML model-building is mostly indifferent to domain theory, even if the model remains theory laden in a weak sense, which we call theory infection. These claims, we argue, have far-reaching consequences for the transferability of ML across scientific disciplines, and shift the priorities of the debate on theory ladenness in ML from descriptive to normative.