OpenRaiser/Intern-Atlas huggingface dataset:
Rethinking Closed-loop Training for Autonomous Driving
Venue: arXiv cs.RO 2023
Year: 2023

Recent advances in high-fidelity simulators have enabled closed-loop training of autonomous driving agents, potentially solving the distribution shift in training v.s. deployment and allowing training to be scaled both safely and cheaply. However, there is a lack of understanding of how to build effective training benchmarks for closed-loop training. In this work, we present the first empirical study which analyzes the effects of different training benchmark designs on the success of learning agents, such as how to design traffic scenarios and scale training environments. Furthermore, we show that many popular RL algorithms cannot achieve satisfactory performance in the context of autonomous driving, as they lack long-term planning and take an extremely long time to train. To address these issues, we propose trajectory value learning (TRAVL), an RL-based driving agent that performs planning with multistep look-ahead and exploits cheaply generated imagined data for efficient learning. Our experiments show that TRAVL can learn much faster and produce safer maneuvers compared to all the baselines. For more information, visit the project website: https://waabi.ai/research/travl
Malware Finances and Operations: a Data-Driven Study of the Value Chain for Infections and Compromised Access
Venue: arXiv cs.CR 2023
Year: 2023

We investigate the criminal market dynamics of infostealer malware and publish three evidence datasets on malware infections and trade. We justify the value chain between illicit enterprises using the datasets, compare the prices and added value, and use the value chain to identify the most effective countermeasures. We begin by examining infostealer malware victim logs shared by actors on hacking forums, and extract victim information and mask sensitive data to protect privacy. We find access to these same victims for sale at Genesis Market. This technically sophisticated marketplace provides its own browser to access victim's online accounts. We collect a second dataset and discover that 91% of prices fall between 1--20 US dollars, with a median of 5 US dollars. Database Market sells access to compromised online accounts. We produce yet another dataset, finding 91% of prices fall between 1--30 US dollars, with a median of 7 US dollars.
Face Morphing Attack Detection with Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

Morphed face images have recently become a growing concern for existing face verification systems, as they are relatively easy to generate and can be used to impersonate someone's identity for various malicious purposes. Efficient Morphing Attack Detection (MAD) that generalizes well across different morphing techniques is, therefore, of paramount importance. Existing MAD techniques predominantly rely on discriminative models that learn from examples of bona fide and morphed images and, as a result, often exhibit sub-optimal generalization performance when confronted with unknown types of morphing attacks. To address this problem, we propose a novel, diffusion-based MAD method in this paper that learns only from the characteristics of bona fide images. Various forms of morphing attacks are then detected by our model as out-of-distribution samples. We perform rigorous experiments over four different datasets (CASIA-WebFace, FRLL-Morphs, FERET-Morphs and FRGC-Morphs) and compare the proposed solution to both discriminatively-trained and once-class MAD models. The experimental results show that our MAD model achieves highly competitive results on all considered datasets.
Identity Construction in a Misogynist Incels Forum
Venue: arXiv cs.CL 2023
Year: 2023

Online communities of involuntary celibates (incels) are a prominent source of misogynist hate speech. In this paper, we use quantitative text and network analysis approaches to examine how identity groups are discussed on incels-dot-is, the largest black-pilled incels forum. We find that this community produces a wide range of novel identity terms and, while terms for women are most common, mentions of other minoritized identities are increasing. An analysis of the associations made with identity groups suggests an essentialist ideology where physical appearance, as well as gender and racial hierarchies, determine human value. We discuss implications for research into automated misogynist hate speech detection.
A Novel Two Stream Decision Level Fusion of Vision and Inertial Sensors Data for Automatic Multimodal Human Activity Recognition System
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

This paper presents a novel multimodal human activity recognition system. It uses a two-stream decision level fusion of vision and inertial sensors. In the first stream, raw RGB frames are passed to a part affinity field-based pose estimation network to detect the keypoints of the user. These keypoints are then pre-processed and inputted in a sliding window fashion to a specially designed convolutional neural network for the spatial feature extraction followed by regularized LSTMs to calculate the temporal features. The outputs of LSTM networks are then inputted to fully connected layers for classification. In the second stream, data obtained from inertial sensors are pre-processed and inputted to regularized LSTMs for the feature extraction followed by fully connected layers for the classification. At this stage, the SoftMax scores of two streams are then fused using the decision level fusion which gives the final prediction. Extensive experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance. Four multimodal standard benchmark datasets (UP-Fall detection, UTD-MHAD, Berkeley-MHAD, and C-MHAD) are used for experimentations. The accuracies obtained by the proposed system are 96.9 %, 97.6 %, 98.7 %, and 95.9 % respectively on the UP-Fall Detection, UTDMHAD, Berkeley-MHAD, and C-MHAD datasets. These results are far superior than the current state-of-the-art methods.
Large Language Models as Annotators: Enhancing Generalization of NLP Models at Minimal Cost
Venue: arXiv cs.CL 2023
Year: 2023

State-of-the-art supervised NLP models achieve high accuracy but are also susceptible to failures on inputs from low-data regimes, such as domains that are not represented in training data. As an approximation to collecting ground-truth labels for the specific domain, we study the use of large language models (LLMs) for annotating inputs and improving the generalization of NLP models. Specifically, given a budget for LLM annotations, we present an algorithm for sampling the most informative inputs to annotate and retrain the NLP model. We find that popular active learning strategies such as uncertainty-based sampling do not work well. Instead, we propose a sampling strategy based on the difference in prediction scores between the base model and the finetuned NLP model, utilizing the fact that most NLP models are finetuned from a base model. Experiments with classification (semantic similarity) and ranking (semantic search) tasks show that our sampling strategy leads to significant gains in accuracy for both the training and target domains.
An Efficient Deep Convolutional Neural Network Model For Yoga Pose Recognition Using Single Images
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

Pose recognition deals with designing algorithms to locate human body joints in a 2D/3D space and run inference on the estimated joint locations for predicting the poses. Yoga poses consist of some very complex postures. It imposes various challenges on the computer vision algorithms like occlusion, inter-class similarity, intra-class variability, viewpoint complexity, etc. This paper presents YPose, an efficient deep convolutional neural network (CNN) model to recognize yoga asanas from RGB images. The proposed model consists of four steps as follows: (a) first, the region of interest (ROI) is segmented using segmentation based approaches to extract the ROI from the original images; (b) second, these refined images are passed to a CNN architecture based on the backbone of EfficientNets for feature extraction; (c) third, dense refinement blocks, adapted from the architecture of densely connected networks are added to learn more diversified features; and (d) fourth, global average pooling and fully connected layers are applied for the classification of the multi-level hierarchy of the yoga poses. The proposed model has been tested on the Yoga-82 dataset. It is a publicly available benchmark dataset for yoga pose recognition. Experimental results show that the proposed model achieves the state-of-the-art on this dataset. The proposed model obtained an accuracy of 93.28%, which is an improvement over the earlier state-of-the-art (79.35%) with a margin of approximately 13.9%. The code will be made publicly available.
Next Steps for Human-Centered Generative AI: A Technical Perspective
Venue: arXiv cs.HC 2023
Year: 2023

Through iterative, cross-disciplinary discussions, we define and propose next-steps for Human-centered Generative AI (HGAI). We contribute a comprehensive research agenda that lays out future directions of Generative AI spanning three levels: aligning with human values; assimilating human intents; and augmenting human abilities. By identifying these next-steps, we intend to draw interdisciplinary research teams to pursue a coherent set of emergent ideas in HGAI, focusing on their interested topics while maintaining a coherent big picture of the future work landscape.
UTRNet: High-Resolution Urdu Text Recognition In Printed Documents
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

In this paper, we propose a novel approach to address the challenges of printed Urdu text recognition using high-resolution, multi-scale semantic feature extraction. Our proposed UTRNet architecture, a hybrid CNN-RNN model, demonstrates state-of-the-art performance on benchmark datasets. To address the limitations of previous works, which struggle to generalize to the intricacies of the Urdu script and the lack of sufficient annotated real-world data, we have introduced the UTRSet-Real, a large-scale annotated real-world dataset comprising over 11,000 lines and UTRSet-Synth, a synthetic dataset with 20,000 lines closely resembling real-world and made corrections to the ground truth of the existing IIITH dataset, making it a more reliable resource for future research. We also provide UrduDoc, a benchmark dataset for Urdu text line detection in scanned documents. Additionally, we have developed an online tool for end-to-end Urdu OCR from printed documents by integrating UTRNet with a text detection model. Our work not only addresses the current limitations of Urdu OCR but also paves the way for future research in this area and facilitates the continued advancement of Urdu OCR technology. The project page with source code, datasets, annotations, trained models, and online tool is available at abdur75648.github.io/UTRNet.
An Empirical Evaluation of the Rashomon Effect in Explainable Machine Learning
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2023
Year: 2023

The Rashomon Effect describes the following phenomenon: for a given dataset there may exist many models with equally good performance but with different solution strategies. The Rashomon Effect has implications for Explainable Machine Learning, especially for the comparability of explanations. We provide a unified view on three different comparison scenarios and conduct a quantitative evaluation across different datasets, models, attribution methods, and metrics. We find that hyperparameter-tuning plays a role and that metric selection matters. Our results provide empirical support for previously anecdotal evidence and exhibit challenges for both scientists and practitioners.
ConKI: Contrastive Knowledge Injection for Multimodal Sentiment Analysis
Venue: arXiv cs.AI 2023
Year: 2023

Multimodal Sentiment Analysis leverages multimodal signals to detect the sentiment of a speaker. Previous approaches concentrate on performing multimodal fusion and representation learning based on general knowledge obtained from pretrained models, which neglects the effect of domain-specific knowledge. In this paper, we propose Contrastive Knowledge Injection (ConKI) for multimodal sentiment analysis, where specific-knowledge representations for each modality can be learned together with general knowledge representations via knowledge injection based on an adapter architecture. In addition, ConKI uses a hierarchical contrastive learning procedure performed between knowledge types within every single modality, across modalities within each sample, and across samples to facilitate the effective learning of the proposed representations, hence improving multimodal sentiment predictions. The experiments on three popular multimodal sentiment analysis benchmarks show that ConKI outperforms all prior methods on a variety of performance metrics.
Exploring the Design Space of Extra-Linguistic Expression for Robots
Venue: arXiv cs.RO 2023
Year: 2023

In this paper, we explore the new design space of extra-linguistic cues inspired by graphical tropes used in graphic novels and animation to enhance the expressiveness of social robots. To achieve this, we identified a set of cues that can be used to generate expressions, including smoke/steam/fog, water droplets, and bubbles. We prototyped devices that can generate these fluid expressions for a robot and conducted design sessions where eight designers explored the use and utility of the cues in conveying the robot's internal states in various design scenarios. Our analysis of the 22 designs, the associated design justifications, and the interviews with designers revealed patterns in how each cue was used, how they were combined with nonverbal cues, and where the participants drew their inspiration from. These findings informed the design of an integrated module called EmoPack, which can be used to augment the expressive capabilities of any robot platform.
Federated Deep Reinforcement Learning-based Bitrate Adaptation for Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP
Venue: arXiv cs.NI 2023
Year: 2023

In video streaming over HTTP, the bitrate adaptation selects the quality of video chunks depending on the current network condition. Some previous works have applied deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithms to determine the chunk's bitrate from the observed states to maximize the quality-of-experience (QoE). However, to build an intelligent model that can predict in various environments, such as 3G, 4G, Wifi, \textit{etc.}, the states observed from these environments must be sent to a server for training centrally. In this work, we integrate federated learning (FL) to DRL-based rate adaptation to train a model appropriate for different environments. The clients in the proposed framework train their model locally and only update the weights to the server. The simulations show that our federated DRL-based rate adaptations, called FDRLABR with different DRL algorithms, such as deep Q-learning, advantage actor-critic, and proximal policy optimization, yield better performance than the traditional bitrate adaptation methods in various environments.
Beyond the Hype: Assessing the Performance, Trustworthiness, and Clinical Suitability of GPT3.5
Venue: arXiv cs.AI 2023
Year: 2023

The use of large language models (LLMs) in healthcare is gaining popularity, but their practicality and safety in clinical settings have not been thoroughly assessed. In high-stakes environments like medical settings, trust and safety are critical issues for LLMs. To address these concerns, we present an approach to evaluate the performance and trustworthiness of a GPT3.5 model for medical image protocol assignment. We compare it with a fine-tuned BERT model and a radiologist. In addition, we have a radiologist review the GPT3.5 output to evaluate its decision-making process. Our evaluation dataset consists of 4,700 physician entries across 11 imaging protocol classes spanning the entire head. Our findings suggest that the GPT3.5 performance falls behind BERT and a radiologist. However, GPT3.5 outperforms BERT in its ability to explain its decision, detect relevant word indicators, and model calibration. Furthermore, by analyzing the explanations of GPT3.5 for misclassifications, we reveal systematic errors that need to be resolved to enhance its safety and suitability for clinical use.
Content-Aware Quantization Index Modulation:Leveraging Data Statistics for Enhanced Image Watermarking
Venue: arXiv cs.CR 2023
Year: 2023

Image watermarking techniques have continuously evolved to address new challenges and incorporate advanced features. The advent of data-driven approaches has enabled the processing and analysis of large volumes of data, extracting valuable insights and patterns. In this paper, we propose two content-aware quantization index modulation (QIM) algorithms: Content-Aware QIM (CA-QIM) and Content-Aware Minimum Distortion QIM (CAMD-QIM). These algorithms aim to improve the embedding distortion of QIM-based watermarking schemes by considering the statistics of the cover signal vectors and messages. CA-QIM introduces a canonical labeling approach, where the closest coset to each cover vector is determined during the embedding process. An adjacency matrix is constructed to capture the relationships between the cover vectors and messages. CAMD-QIM extends the concept of minimum distortion (MD) principle to content-aware QIM. Instead of quantizing the carriers to lattice points, CAMD-QIM quantizes them to close points in the correct decoding region. Canonical labeling is also employed in CAMD-QIM to enhance its performance. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of CA-QIM and CAMD-QIM in reducing embedding distortion compared to traditional QIM. The combination of canonical labeling and the minimum distortion principle proves to be powerful, minimizing the need for changes to most cover vectors/carriers. These content-aware QIM algorithms provide improved performance and robustness for watermarking applications.
Diversity is Strength: Mastering Football Full Game with Interactive Reinforcement Learning of Multiple AIs
Venue: arXiv cs.AI 2023
Year: 2023

Training AI with strong and rich strategies in multi-agent environments remains an important research topic in Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL). The AI's strength is closely related to its diversity of strategies, and this relationship can guide us to train AI with both strong and rich strategies. To prove this point, we propose Diversity is Strength (DIS), a novel DRL training framework that can simultaneously train multiple kinds of AIs. These AIs are linked through an interconnected history model pool structure, which enhances their capabilities and strategy diversities. We also design a model evaluation and screening scheme to select the best models to enrich the model pool and obtain the final AI. The proposed training method provides diverse, generalizable, and strong AI strategies without using human data. We tested our method in an AI competition based on Google Research Football (GRF) and won the 5v5 and 11v11 tracks. The method enables a GRF AI to have a high level on both 5v5 and 11v11 tracks for the first time, which are under complex multi-agent environments. The behavior analysis shows that the trained AI has rich strategies, and the ablation experiments proved that the designed modules benefit the training process.
Action and Trajectory Planning for Urban Autonomous Driving with Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning
Venue: arXiv cs.RO 2023
Year: 2023

Reinforcement Learning (RL) has made promising progress in planning and decision-making for Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) in simple driving scenarios. However, existing RL algorithms for AVs fail to learn critical driving skills in complex urban scenarios. First, urban driving scenarios require AVs to handle multiple driving tasks of which conventional RL algorithms are incapable. Second, the presence of other vehicles in urban scenarios results in a dynamically changing environment, which challenges RL algorithms to plan the action and trajectory of the AV. In this work, we propose an action and trajectory planner using Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning (atHRL) method, which models the agent behavior in a hierarchical model by using the perception of the lidar and birdeye view. The proposed atHRL method learns to make decisions about the agent's future trajectory and computes target waypoints under continuous settings based on a hierarchical DDPG algorithm. The waypoints planned by the atHRL model are then sent to a low-level controller to generate the steering and throttle commands required for the vehicle maneuver. We empirically verify the efficacy of atHRL through extensive experiments in complex urban driving scenarios that compose multiple tasks with the presence of other vehicles in the CARLA simulator. The experimental results suggest a significant performance improvement compared to the state-of-the-art RL methods.
Tensorformer: Normalized Matrix Attention Transformer for High-quality Point Cloud Reconstruction
Venue: arXiv cs.GR 2023
Year: 2023

Surface reconstruction from raw point clouds has been studied for decades in the computer graphics community, which is highly demanded by modeling and rendering applications nowadays. Classic solutions, such as Poisson surface reconstruction, require point normals as extra input to perform reasonable results. Modern transformer-based methods can work without normals, while the results are less fine-grained due to limited encoding performance in local fusion from discrete points. We introduce a novel normalized matrix attention transformer (Tensorformer) to perform high-quality reconstruction. The proposed matrix attention allows for simultaneous point-wise and channel-wise message passing, while the previous vector attention loses neighbor point information across different channels. It brings more degree of freedom in feature learning and thus facilitates better modeling of local geometries. Our method achieves state-of-the-art on two commonly used datasets, ShapeNetCore and ABC, and attains 4% improvements on IOU on ShapeNet. Code can be accessed https://github.com/THHHomas/Tensorformer6.
Condorcet Domains of Degree at most Seven
Venue: arXiv cs.DM 2023
Year: 2023

In this paper we give the first explicit enumeration of all maximal Condorcet domains on $n\leq 7$ alternatives. This has been accomplished by developing a new algorithm for constructing Condorcet domains, and an implementation of that algorithm which has been run on a supercomputer. We follow this up by the first survey of the properties of all maximal Condorcet domains up to degree 7, with respect to many properties studied in the social sciences and mathematical literature. We resolve several open questions posed by other authors, both by examples from our data and theorems. We give a new set of results on the symmetry properties of Condorcet domains which unify earlier works. Finally we discuss connections to other domain types such as non-dictatorial domains and generalisations of single-peaked domains. All our data is made freely available for other researches via a new website.