OpenRaiser/Intern-Atlas huggingface dataset:
Generative Models as a Complex Systems Science: How can we make sense of large language model behavior?
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2023
Year: 2023

Coaxing out desired behavior from pretrained models, while avoiding undesirable ones, has redefined NLP and is reshaping how we interact with computers. What was once a scientific engineering discipline-in which building blocks are stacked one on top of the other-is arguably already a complex systems science, in which emergent behaviors are sought out to support previously unimagined use cases. Despite the ever increasing number of benchmarks that measure task performance, we lack explanations of what behaviors language models exhibit that allow them to complete these tasks in the first place. We argue for a systematic effort to decompose language model behavior into categories that explain cross-task performance, to guide mechanistic explanations and help future-proof analytic research.
CONSTRUCT: A Program Synthesis Approach for Reconstructing Control Algorithms from Embedded System Binaries in Cyber-Physical Systems
Venue: arXiv cs.SE 2023
Year: 2023

We introduce a novel approach to automatically synthesize a mathematical representation of the control algorithms implemented in industrial cyber-physical systems (CPS), given the embedded system binary. The output model can be used by subject matter experts to assess the system's compliance with the expected behavior and for a variety of forensic applications. Our approach first performs static analysis on decompiled binary files of the controller to create a sketch of the mathematical representation. Then, we perform an evolutionary-based search to find the correct semantic for the created representation, i.e., the control law. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the introduced approach in practice via three case studies conducted on two real-life industrial CPS.
Asynchronous Federated Learning with Bidirectional Quantized Communications and Buffered Aggregation
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2023
Year: 2023

Asynchronous Federated Learning with Buffered Aggregation (FedBuff) is a state-of-the-art algorithm known for its efficiency and high scalability. However, it has a high communication cost, which has not been examined with quantized communications. To tackle this problem, we present a new algorithm (QAFeL), with a quantization scheme that establishes a shared "hidden" state between the server and clients to avoid the error propagation caused by direct quantization. This approach allows for high precision while significantly reducing the data transmitted during client-server interactions. We provide theoretical convergence guarantees for QAFeL and corroborate our analysis with experiments on a standard benchmark.
Making the V in Text-VQA Matter
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

Text-based VQA aims at answering questions by reading the text present in the images. It requires a large amount of scene-text relationship understanding compared to the VQA task. Recent studies have shown that the question-answer pairs in the dataset are more focused on the text present in the image but less importance is given to visual features and some questions do not require understanding the image. The models trained on this dataset predict biased answers due to the lack of understanding of visual context. For example, in questions like "What is written on the signboard?", the answer predicted by the model is always "STOP" which makes the model to ignore the image. To address these issues, we propose a method to learn visual features (making V matter in TextVQA) along with the OCR features and question features using VQA dataset as external knowledge for Text-based VQA. Specifically, we combine the TextVQA dataset and VQA dataset and train the model on this combined dataset. Such a simple, yet effective approach increases the understanding and correlation between the image features and text present in the image, which helps in the better answering of questions. We further test the model on different datasets and compare their qualitative and quantitative results.
Zero-Shot Learning by Harnessing Adversarial Samples
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

Zero-Shot Learning (ZSL) aims to recognize unseen classes by generalizing the knowledge, i.e., visual and semantic relationships, obtained from seen classes, where image augmentation techniques are commonly applied to improve the generalization ability of a model. However, this approach can also cause adverse effects on ZSL since the conventional augmentation techniques that solely depend on single-label supervision is not able to maintain semantic information and result in the semantic distortion issue consequently. In other words, image argumentation may falsify the semantic (e.g., attribute) information of an image. To take the advantage of image augmentations while mitigating the semantic distortion issue, we propose a novel ZSL approach by Harnessing Adversarial Samples (HAS). HAS advances ZSL through adversarial training which takes into account three crucial aspects: (1) robust generation by enforcing augmentations to be similar to negative classes, while maintaining correct labels, (2) reliable generation by introducing a latent space constraint to avert significant deviations from the original data manifold, and (3) diverse generation by incorporating attribute-based perturbation by adjusting images according to each semantic attribute's localization. Through comprehensive experiments on three prominent zero-shot benchmark datasets, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our adversarial samples approach in both ZSL and Generalized Zero-Shot Learning (GZSL) scenarios. Our source code is available at https://github.com/uqzhichen/HASZSL.
Pixel to policy: DQN Encoders for within & cross-game reinforcement learning
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2023
Year: 2023

Reinforcement Learning can be applied to various tasks, and environments. Many of these environments have a similar shared structure, which can be exploited to improve RL performance on other tasks. Transfer learning can be used to take advantage of this shared structure, by learning policies that are transferable across different tasks and environments and can lead to more efficient learning as well as improved performance on a wide range of tasks. This work explores as well as compares the performance between RL models being trained from the scratch and on different approaches of transfer learning. Additionally, the study explores the performance of a model trained on multiple game environments, with the goal of developing a universal game-playing agent as well as transfer learning a pre-trained encoder using DQN, and training it on the same game or a different game. Our DQN model achieves a mean episode reward of 46.16 which even beats the human-level performance with merely 20k episodes which is significantly lower than deepmind's 1M episodes. The achieved mean rewards of 533.42 and 402.17 on the Assault and Space Invader environments respectively, represent noteworthy performance on these challenging environments.
Tackling Hallucinations in Neural Chart Summarization
Venue: arXiv cs.CL 2023
Year: 2023

Hallucinations in text generation occur when the system produces text that is not grounded in the input. In this work, we tackle the problem of hallucinations in neural chart summarization. Our analysis shows that the target side of chart summarization training datasets often contains additional information, leading to hallucinations. We propose a natural language inference (NLI) based method to preprocess the training data and show through human evaluation that our method significantly reduces hallucinations. We also found that shortening long-distance dependencies in the input sequence and adding chart-related information like title and legends improves the overall performance.
A First Look at Digital Rights Management Systems for Secure Mobile Content Delivery
Venue: arXiv cs.CR 2023
Year: 2023

Digital rights management (DRM) solutions aim to prevent the copying or distribution of copyrighted material. On mobile devices, a variety of DRM technologies have become widely deployed. However, a detailed security study comparing their internal workings, and their strengths and weaknesses, remains missing in the existing literature. In this paper, we present the first detailed security analysis of mobile DRM systems, addressing the modern paradigm of cloud-based content delivery followed by major platforms, such as Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime. We extensively analyse the security of three widely used DRM solutions -- Google Widevine, Apple FairPlay, and Microsoft PlayReady -- deployed on billions of devices worldwide. We then consolidate their features and capabilities, deriving common features and security properties for their evaluation. Furthermore, we identify some design-level shortcomings that render them vulnerable to emerging attacks within the state of the art, including micro-architectural side-channel vulnerabilities and an absence of post-quantum security. Lastly, we propose mitigations and suggest future directions of research.
Structural Embeddings of Tools for Large Language Models
Venue: arXiv cs.AI 2023
Year: 2023

It is evident that the current state of Large Language Models (LLMs) necessitates the incorporation of external tools. The lack of straightforward algebraic and logical reasoning is well documented and prompted researchers to develop frameworks which allow LLMs to operate via external tools. The ontological nature of tool utilization for a specific task can be well formulated with a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). The central aim of the paper is to highlight the importance of graph based approaches to LLM-tool interaction in near future. We propose an exemplary framework to guide the orchestration of exponentially increasing numbers of external tools with LLMs,where objectives and functionalities of tools are graph encoded hierarchically. Assuming that textual segments of a Chain-of-Thought (CoT) can be imagined as a tool as defined here, the graph based framework can pave new avenues in that particular direction as well.
Mirror Natural Evolution Strategies
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2023
Year: 2023

The zeroth-order optimization has been widely used in machine learning applications. However, the theoretical study of the zeroth-order optimization focus on the algorithms which approximate (first-order) gradients using (zeroth-order) function value difference at a random direction. The theory of algorithms which approximate the gradient and Hessian information by zeroth-order queries is much less studied. In this paper, we focus on the theory of zeroth-order optimization which utilizes both the first-order and second-order information approximated by the zeroth-order queries. We first propose a novel reparameterized objective function with parameters $(μ, Σ)$. This reparameterized objective function achieves its optimum at the minimizer and the Hessian inverse of the original objective function respectively, but with small perturbations. Accordingly, we propose a new algorithm to minimize our proposed reparameterized objective, which we call \texttt{MiNES} (mirror descent natural evolution strategy). We show that the estimated covariance matrix of \texttt{MiNES} converges to the inverse of Hessian matrix of the objective function with a convergence rate $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(1/k)$, where $k$ is the iteration number and $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(\cdot)$ hides the constant and $\log$ terms. We also provide the explicit convergence rate of \texttt{MiNES} and how the covariance matrix promotes the convergence rate.
Retrieval Augmented Generation and Representative Vector Summarization for large unstructured textual data in Medical Education
Venue: arXiv cs.CL 2023
Year: 2023

Large Language Models are increasingly being used for various tasks including content generation and as chatbots. Despite their impressive performances in general tasks, LLMs need to be aligned when applying for domain specific tasks to mitigate the problems of hallucination and producing harmful answers. Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) allows to easily attach and manipulate a non-parametric knowledgebases to LLMs. Applications of RAG in the field of medical education are discussed in this paper. A combined extractive and abstractive summarization method for large unstructured textual data using representative vectors is proposed.
Stochastic Geometry Based Modeling and Analysis on Network NOMA in Downlink CoMP Systems
Venue: arXiv cs.IT 2023
Year: 2023

This paper investigates the performance of network non-orthogonal multiple access (N-NOMA) in a downlink coordinated multi-point (CoMP) system. In the considered N-NOMA scheme, multiple base stations (BSs) cooperatively serve a CoMP user, meanwhile, each BS serves additional NOMA users by occupying the same resource block allocated to the CoMP user. The locations of the BSs and users are modeled by stochastic geometric models and the interference from the whole network is considered. Through rigorous derivations, the outage probabilities achieved by the CoMP and NOMA users are obtained, respectively. Numerical results are provided to verify the accuracy of the analytical results and also demonstrate the superior performance of N-NOMA compared to orthogonal multiple access (OMA) based CoMP scheme.
Relational Contrastive Learning for Scene Text Recognition
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

Context-aware methods achieved great success in supervised scene text recognition via incorporating semantic priors from words. We argue that such prior contextual information can be interpreted as the relations of textual primitives due to the heterogeneous text and background, which can provide effective self-supervised labels for representation learning. However, textual relations are restricted to the finite size of dataset due to lexical dependencies, which causes the problem of over-fitting and compromises representation robustness. To this end, we propose to enrich the textual relations via rearrangement, hierarchy and interaction, and design a unified framework called RCLSTR: Relational Contrastive Learning for Scene Text Recognition. Based on causality, we theoretically explain that three modules suppress the bias caused by the contextual prior and thus guarantee representation robustness. Experiments on representation quality show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art self-supervised STR methods. Code is available at https://github.com/ThunderVVV/RCLSTR.
SurveyLM: A platform to explore emerging value perspectives in augmented language models' behaviors
Venue: arXiv cs.AI 2023
Year: 2023

This white paper presents our work on SurveyLM, a platform for analyzing augmented language models' (ALMs) emergent alignment behaviors through their dynamically evolving attitude and value perspectives in complex social contexts. Social Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, like ALMs, often function within nuanced social scenarios where there is no singular correct response, or where an answer is heavily dependent on contextual factors, thus necessitating an in-depth understanding of their alignment dynamics. To address this, we apply survey and experimental methodologies, traditionally used in studying social behaviors, to evaluate ALMs systematically, thus providing unprecedented insights into their alignment and emergent behaviors. Moreover, the SurveyLM platform leverages the ALMs' own feedback to enhance survey and experiment designs, exploiting an underutilized aspect of ALMs, which accelerates the development and testing of high-quality survey frameworks while conserving resources. Through SurveyLM, we aim to shed light on factors influencing ALMs' emergent behaviors, facilitate their alignment with human intentions and expectations, and thereby contributed to the responsible development and deployment of advanced social AI systems. This white paper underscores the platform's potential to deliver robust results, highlighting its significance to alignment research and its implications for future social AI systems.
A Novel Temporal Multi-Gate Mixture-of-Experts Approach for Vehicle Trajectory and Driving Intention Prediction
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2023
Year: 2023

Accurate Vehicle Trajectory Prediction is critical for automated vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems. Vehicle trajectory prediction consists of two essential tasks, i.e., longitudinal position prediction and lateral position prediction. There is a significant correlation between driving intentions and vehicle motion. In existing work, the three tasks are often conducted separately without considering the relationships between the longitudinal position, lateral position, and driving intention. In this paper, we propose a novel Temporal Multi-Gate Mixture-of-Experts (TMMOE) model for simultaneously predicting the vehicle trajectory and driving intention. The proposed model consists of three layers: a shared layer, an expert layer, and a fully connected layer. In the model, the shared layer utilizes Temporal Convolutional Networks (TCN) to extract temporal features. Then the expert layer is built to identify different information according to the three tasks. Moreover, the fully connected layer is used to integrate and export prediction results. To achieve better performance, uncertainty algorithm is used to construct the multi-task loss function. Finally, the publicly available CitySim dataset validates the TMMOE model, demonstrating superior performance compared to the LSTM model, achieving the highest classification and regression results. Keywords: Vehicle trajectory prediction, driving intentions Classification, Multi-task
Visibility Enhancement for Low-light Hazy Scenarios
Venue: arXiv cs.CV 2023
Year: 2023

Low-light hazy scenes commonly appear at dusk and early morning. The visual enhancement for low-light hazy images is an ill-posed problem. Even though numerous methods have been proposed for image dehazing and low-light enhancement respectively, simply integrating them cannot deliver pleasing results for this particular task. In this paper, we present a novel method to enhance visibility for low-light hazy scenarios. To handle this challenging task, we propose two key techniques, namely cross-consistency dehazing-enhancement framework and physically based simulation for low-light hazy dataset. Specifically, the framework is designed for enhancing visibility of the input image via fully utilizing the clues from different sub-tasks. The simulation is designed for generating the dataset with ground-truths by the proposed low-light hazy imaging model. The extensive experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the SOTA solutions on different metrics including SSIM (9.19%) and PSNR(5.03%). In addition, we conduct a user study on real images to demonstrate the effectiveness and necessity of the proposed method by human visual perception.
Secure and Trustworthy Computing 2.0 Vision Statement
Venue: arXiv cs.CR 2023
Year: 2023

The Secure and Trustworthy Computing (SaTC) program within the National Science Foundation (NSF) program serves as the primary instrument for creating novel fundamental science in security and privacy in the United States with broad impacts that influence the world. The program funds research in a vast array of research topics that span technology, theory, policy, law, and society. In the Spring of 2023, the program managers of SaTC requested that the community prepare a vision for the next ten years of research. This document represents the results of that effort which involved collecting input from numerous members of the security and privacy community, industry, academics, and government. Assembled from that input, this document offers a comprehensive view of general themes and specific areas of focus for future research as envisioned by the community.
An Empirical Evaluation of AriDeM using Matrix Multiplication
Venue: arXiv cs.AR 2023
Year: 2023

For a long time, the Von Neumann has been a successful model of computation for sequential computing .Many models including the dataflow model have been unsuccessfully developed to emulate the same results in parallel computing. It is widely accepted that high performance computation is better-achieved using parallel architectures and is seen as the basis for future computational architectures with the ever-increasing need for high performance computation. We describe a new model of parallel computation known as the Arithmetic Deduction Model (AriDem) which has some similarities with the Von Neumann. A theoretical evaluation conducted on this model in comparison with the predominant von Neumann model indicated AriDeM to be more efficient in resources utilization. In this paper, we conduct an empirical evaluation of the model and the results reflect the output of the theoretical evaluation.
Approximate Model-Based Shielding for Safe Reinforcement Learning
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2023
Year: 2023

Reinforcement learning (RL) has shown great potential for solving complex tasks in a variety of domains. However, applying RL to safety-critical systems in the real-world is not easy as many algorithms are sample-inefficient and maximising the standard RL objective comes with no guarantees on worst-case performance. In this paper we propose approximate model-based shielding (AMBS), a principled look-ahead shielding algorithm for verifying the performance of learned RL policies w.r.t. a set of given safety constraints. Our algorithm differs from other shielding approaches in that it does not require prior knowledge of the safety-relevant dynamics of the system. We provide a strong theoretical justification for AMBS and demonstrate superior performance to other safety-aware approaches on a set of Atari games with state-dependent safety-labels.
DeepTSF: Codeless machine learning operations for time series forecasting
Venue: arXiv cs.LG 2023
Year: 2023

This paper presents DeepTSF, a comprehensive machine learning operations (MLOps) framework aiming to innovate time series forecasting through workflow automation and codeless modeling. DeepTSF automates key aspects of the ML lifecycle, making it an ideal tool for data scientists and MLops engineers engaged in machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL)-based forecasting. DeepTSF empowers users with a robust and user-friendly solution, while it is designed to seamlessly integrate with existing data analysis workflows, providing enhanced productivity and compatibility. The framework offers a front-end user interface (UI) suitable for data scientists, as well as other higher-level stakeholders, enabling comprehensive understanding through insightful visualizations and evaluation metrics. DeepTSF also prioritizes security through identity management and access authorization mechanisms. The application of DeepTSF in real-life use cases of the I-NERGY project has already proven DeepTSF's efficacy in DL-based load forecasting, showcasing its significant added value in the electrical power and energy systems domain.
Communication systems using LabVIEW
Venue: arXiv cs.HC 2023
Year: 2023

LabVIEW enables engineers to simulate various communication and control systems. LabVIEW helps to create Virtual Instruments (VIs) which are the files with which the user interacts to accomplish the required task. In this paper, the AM system implementation in LabVIEW is explained in detail along with the observed waveforms. The AM system is implemented using two separate VIs i.e. Transmitter_AM.vi and Receiver_AM.vi. Each VI has two parts: Front Panel and the Block Diagram. The Front Panel is usually the interface the user interacts with and observes results. The block diagram contains the blocks used to implement the functionality required for the operation of the VI. The individual blocks in the block diagram are called the sub VIs. The user may or may not need to make changes in the block diagram of the VI during the execution of the LabVIEW program.