pwc-archive/papers-with-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Integrating uncertainty in deep neural networks for MRI based stroke analysis
Authors: Lisa Herzog, Elvis Murina, Oliver Dürr, Susanne Wegener, Beate Sick
Date: 2020-08-13 00:00:00

At present, the majority of the proposed Deep Learning (DL) methods provide point predictions without quantifying the models uncertainty. However, a quantification of the reliability of automated image analysis is essential, in particular in medicine when physicians rely on the results for making critical treatment decisions. In this work, we provide an entire framework to diagnose ischemic stroke patients incorporating Bayesian uncertainty into the analysis procedure. We present a Bayesian Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) yielding a probability for a stroke lesion on 2D Magnetic Resonance (MR) images with corresponding uncertainty information about the reliability of the prediction. For patient-level diagnoses, different aggregation methods are proposed and evaluated, which combine the single image-level predictions. Those methods take advantage of the uncertainty in image predictions and report model uncertainty at the patient-level. In a cohort of 511 patients, our Bayesian CNN achieved an accuracy of 95.33% at the image-level representing a significant improvement of 2% over a non-Bayesian counterpart. The best patient aggregation method yielded 95.89% of accuracy. Integrating uncertainty information about image predictions in aggregation models resulted in higher uncertainty measures to false patient classifications, which enabled to filter critical patient diagnoses that are supposed to be closer examined by a medical doctor. We therefore recommend using Bayesian approaches not only for improved image-level prediction and uncertainty estimation but also for the detection of uncertain aggregations at the patient-level.
MMM : Exploring Conditional Multi-Track Music Generation with the Transformer
Authors: Jeff Ens, Philippe Pasquier
Date: 2020-08-13 00:00:00
Tasks: Music Generation

We propose the Multi-Track Music Machine (MMM), a generative system based on the Transformer architecture that is capable of generating multi-track music. In contrast to previous work, which represents musical material as a single time-ordered sequence, where the musical events corresponding to different tracks are interleaved, we create a time-ordered sequence of musical events for each track and concatenate several tracks into a single sequence. This takes advantage of the Transformer's attention-mechanism, which can adeptly handle long-term dependencies. We explore how various representations can offer the user a high degree of control at generation time, providing an interactive demo that accommodates track-level and bar-level inpainting, and offers control over track instrumentation and note density.
On Mean Absolute Error for Deep Neural Network Based Vector-to-Vector Regression
Authors: Jun Qi, Jun Du, Sabato Marco Siniscalchi, Xiaoli Ma, Chin-Hui Lee
Date: 2020-08-12 00:00:00
Tasks: regression, Speech Enhancement

In this paper, we exploit the properties of mean absolute error (MAE) as a loss function for the deep neural network (DNN) based vector-to-vector regression. The goal of this work is two-fold: (i) presenting performance bounds of MAE, and (ii) demonstrating new properties of MAE that make it more appropriate than mean squared error (MSE) as a loss function for DNN based vector-to-vector regression. First, we show that a generalized upper-bound for DNN-based vector- to-vector regression can be ensured by leveraging the known Lipschitz continuity property of MAE. Next, we derive a new generalized upper bound in the presence of additive noise. Finally, in contrast to conventional MSE commonly adopted to approximate Gaussian errors for regression, we show that MAE can be interpreted as an error modeled by Laplacian distribution. Speech enhancement experiments are conducted to corroborate our proposed theorems and validate the performance advantages of MAE over MSE for DNN based regression.
Active Importance Sampling for Variational Objectives Dominated by Rare Events: Consequences for Optimization and Generalization
Authors: Grant M. Rotskoff, Andrew R. Mitchell, Eric Vanden-Eijnden
Date: 2020-08-11 00:00:00
Tasks: BIG-bench Machine Learning, Learning Theory

Deep neural networks, when optimized with sufficient data, provide accurate representations of high-dimensional functions; in contrast, function approximation techniques that have predominated in scientific computing do not scale well with dimensionality. As a result, many high-dimensional sampling and approximation problems once thought intractable are being revisited through the lens of machine learning. While the promise of unparalleled accuracy may suggest a renaissance for applications that require parameterizing representations of complex systems, in many applications gathering sufficient data to develop such a representation remains a significant challenge. Here we introduce an approach that combines rare events sampling techniques with neural network optimization to optimize objective functions that are dominated by rare events. We show that importance sampling reduces the asymptotic variance of the solution to a learning problem, suggesting benefits for generalization. We study our algorithm in the context of learning dynamical transition pathways between two states of a system, a problem with applications in statistical physics and implications in machine learning theory. Our numerical experiments demonstrate that we can successfully learn even with the compounding difficulties of high-dimension and rare data.
Predicting Account Receivables with Machine Learning
Authors: Ana Paula Appel, Gabriel Louzada Malfatti, Renato Luiz de Freitas Cunha, Bruno Lima, Rogerio de Paula
Date: 2020-08-11 00:00:00
Tasks: BIG-bench Machine Learning, Decision Making, Prediction

Being able to predict when invoices will be paid is valuable in multiple industries and supports decision-making processes in most financial workflows. However, due to the complexity of data related to invoices and the fact that the decision-making process is not registered in the accounts receivable system, performing this prediction becomes a challenge. In this paper, we present a prototype able to support collectors in predicting the payment of invoices. This prototype is part of a solution developed in partnership with a multinational bank and it has reached up to 81% of prediction accuracy, which improved the prioritization of customers and supported the daily work of collectors. Our simulations show that the adoption of our model to prioritize the work o collectors saves up to ~1.75 million dollars per month. The methodology and results presented in this paper will allow researchers and practitioners in dealing with the problem of invoice payment prediction, providing insights and examples of how to tackle issues present in real data.
A Study of a Genetic Algorithm for Polydisperse Spray Flames
Authors: Daniel Engelsman
Date: 2020-08-11 00:00:00
Tasks: Evolutionary Algorithms

Modern technological advancements constantly push forward the human-machine interaction. Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) are an machine learning (ML) subclass inspired by the process of natural selection - Survival of the Fittest, as stated by the Darwinian Theory of Evolution. The most notable algorithm in that class is the Genetic Algorithm (GA) - a powerful heuristic tool which enables the generation of a high-quality solutions to optimization problems. In recent decades the algorithm underwent remarkable improvement, which adapted it into a wide range of engineering problems, by heuristically searching for the optimal solution. Despite being well-defined, many engineering problems may suffer from heavy analytical entanglement when approaching the derivation process, as required in classic optimization methods. Therefore, the main motivation here, is to work around that obstacle. In this piece of work, I would like to harness the GA capabilities to examine optimality with respect to a unique combustion problem, in a way that was never performed before. To be more precise, I would like to utilize it to answer the question : What form of an initial droplet size distribution (iDSD) will guarantee an optimal flame ? To answer this question, I will first provide a general introduction to the GA method, then develop the combustion model, and eventually merge both into an optimization problem.
Bias and Discrimination in AI: a cross-disciplinary perspective
Authors: Xavier Ferrer, Tom van Nuenen, Jose M. Such, Mark Coté, Natalia Criado
Date: 2020-08-11 00:00:00
Tasks: Decision Making

With the widespread and pervasive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for automated decision-making systems, AI bias is becoming more apparent and problematic. One of its negative consequences is discrimination: the unfair, or unequal treatment of individuals based on certain characteristics. However, the relationship between bias and discrimination is not always clear. In this paper, we survey relevant literature about bias and discrimination in AI from an interdisciplinary perspective that embeds technical, legal, social and ethical dimensions. We show that finding solutions to bias and discrimination in AI requires robust cross-disciplinary collaborations.
HEX and Neurodynamic Programming
Authors: Debangshu Banerjee
Date: 2020-08-11 00:00:00

Hex is a complex game with a high branching factor. For the first time Hex is being attempted to be solved without the use of game tree structures and associated methods of pruning. We also are abstaining from any heuristic information about Virtual Connections or Semi Virtual Connections which were previously used in all previous known computer versions of the game. The H-search algorithm which was the basis of finding such connections and had been used with success in previous Hex playing agents has been forgone. Instead what we use is reinforcement learning through self play and approximations through neural networks to by pass the problem of high branching factor and maintaining large tables for state-action evaluations. Our code is based primarily on NeuroHex. The inspiration is drawn from the recent success of AlphaGo Zero.
Multifunctionality in a Reservoir Computer
Authors: Andrew Flynn, Vassilios A. Tsachouridis, Andreas Amann
Date: 2020-08-10 00:00:00

Multifunctionality is a well observed phenomenological feature of biological neural networks and considered to be of fundamental importance to the survival of certain species over time. These multifunctional neural networks are capable of performing more than one task without changing any network connections. In this paper we investigate how this neurological idiosyncrasy can be achieved in an artificial setting with a modern machine learning paradigm known as `Reservoir Computing'. A training technique is designed to enable a Reservoir Computer to perform tasks of a multifunctional nature. We explore the critical effects that changes in certain parameters can have on the Reservoir Computers' ability to express multifunctionality. We also expose the existence of several `untrained attractors'; attractors which dwell within the prediction state space of the Reservoir Computer that were not part of the training. We conduct a bifurcation analysis of these untrained attractors and discuss the implications of our results.
DINE: A Framework for Deep Incomplete Network Embedding
Authors: Ke Hou, Jiaying Liu, Yin Peng, Bo Xu, Ivan Lee, Feng Xia
Date: 2020-08-09 00:00:00
Tasks: General Classification, Link Prediction, Multi-Label Classification, MUlTI-LABEL-ClASSIFICATION, Network Embedding, Node Classification, Representation Learning

Network representation learning (NRL) plays a vital role in a variety of tasks such as node classification and link prediction. It aims to learn low-dimensional vector representations for nodes based on network structures or node attributes. While embedding techniques on complete networks have been intensively studied, in real-world applications, it is still a challenging task to collect complete networks. To bridge the gap, in this paper, we propose a Deep Incomplete Network Embedding method, namely DINE. Specifically, we first complete the missing part including both nodes and edges in a partially observable network by using the expectation-maximization framework. To improve the embedding performance, we consider both network structures and node attributes to learn node representations. Empirically, we evaluate DINE over three networks on multi-label classification and link prediction tasks. The results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed approach compared against state-of-the-art baselines.
Improving Smart Conference Participation through Socially-Aware Recommendation
Authors: Nana Yaw Asabere, Feng Xia, Wei Wang, Joel J. P. C. Rodrigues, Filippo Basso, Jianhua Ma
Date: 2020-08-09 00:00:00
Tasks: Community Detection

This research addresses recommending presentation sessions at smart conferences to participants. We propose a venue recommendation algorithm, Socially-Aware Recommendation of Venues and Environments (SARVE). SARVE computes correlation and social characteristic information of conference participants. In order to model a recommendation process using distributed community detection, SARVE further integrates the current context of both the smart conference community and participants. SARVE recommends presentation sessions that may be of high interest to each participant. We evaluate SARVE using a real world dataset. In our experiments, we compare SARVE to two related state-of-the-art methods, namely: Context-Aware Mobile Recommendation Services (CAMRS) and Conference Navigator (Recommender) Model. Our experimental results show that in terms of the utilized evaluation metrics: precision, recall, and f-measure, SARVE achieves more reliable and favorable social (relations and context) recommendation results.
Rotation-Invariant Gait Identification with Quaternion Convolutional Neural Networks
Authors: Bowen Jing, Vinay Prabhu, Angela Gu, John Whaley
Date: 2020-08-04 00:00:00
Tasks: Gait Identification

A desireable property of accelerometric gait-based identification systems is robustness to new device orientations presented by users during testing but unseen during the training phase. However, traditional Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) used in these systems compensate poorly for such transformations. In this paper, we target this problem by introducing Quaternion CNN, a network architecture which is intrinsically layer-wise equivariant and globally invariant under 3D rotations of an array of input vectors. We show empirically that this network indeed significantly outperforms a traditional CNN in a multi-user rotation-invariant gait classification setting .Lastly, we demonstrate how the kernels learned by this QCNN can also be visualized as basis-independent but origin- and chirality-dependent trajectory fragments in the euclidean space, thus yielding a novel mode of feature visualization and extraction.
Facial Recognition: A cross-national Survey on Public Acceptance, Privacy, and Discrimination
Authors: Léa Steinacker, Miriam Meckel, Genia Kostka, Damian Borth
Date: 2020-07-15 00:00:00

With rapid advances in machine learning (ML), more of this technology is being deployed into the real world interacting with us and our environment. One of the most widely applied application of ML is facial recognition as it is running on millions of devices. While being useful for some people, others perceive it as a threat when used by public authorities. This discrepancy and the lack of policy increases the uncertainty in the ML community about the future direction of facial recognition research and development. In this paper we present results from a cross-national survey about public acceptance, privacy, and discrimination of the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) in the public. This study provides insights about the opinion towards FRT from China, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US), which can serve as input for policy makers and legal regulators.
Predicting Individual Treatment Effects of Large-scale Team Competitions in a Ride-sharing Economy
Authors: Teng Ye, Wei Ai, Lingyu Zhang, Ning Luo, Lulu Zhang, Jieping Ye, Qiaozhu Mei
Date: 2020-08-07 00:00:00

Millions of drivers worldwide have enjoyed financial benefits and work schedule flexibility through a ride-sharing economy, but meanwhile they have suffered from the lack of a sense of identity and career achievement. Equipped with social identity and contest theories, financially incentivized team competitions have been an effective instrument to increase drivers' productivity, job satisfaction, and retention, and to improve revenue over cost for ride-sharing platforms. While these competitions are overall effective, the decisive factors behind the treatment effects and how they affect the outcomes of individual drivers have been largely mysterious. In this study, we analyze data collected from more than 500 large-scale team competitions organized by a leading ride-sharing platform, building machine learning models to predict individual treatment effects. Through a careful investigation of features and predictors, we are able to reduce out-sample prediction error by more than 24%. Through interpreting the best-performing models, we discover many novel and actionable insights regarding how to optimize the design and the execution of team competitions on ride-sharing platforms. A simulated analysis demonstrates that by simply changing a few contest design options, the average treatment effect of a real competition is expected to increase by as much as 26%. Our procedure and findings shed light on how to analyze and optimize large-scale online field experiments in general.
Why a computer program is a functional whole
Authors: C. Maria Keet
Date: 2020-07-21 00:00:00
Tasks: Unity

Sharing, downloading, and reusing software is common-place, some of which is carried out legally with open source software. When it is not legal, it is unclear just how many copyright infringements and trade secret violations have taken place: does an infringement count for the artefact as a whole or perhaps for each file of the program? To answer this question, it must first be established whether a program should be considered as an integral whole, a collection, or a mere set of distinct files, and why. We argue that a program is a functional whole, availing of, and combining, arguments from mereology, granularity, modularity, unity, and function to substantiate the claim. The argumentation and answer contributes to the ontology of software artefacts, may assist industry in litigation cases, and demonstrates that the notion of unifying relation is operationalisable. Indirectly, it provides support for continued modular design of artefacts following established engineering practices.
An Ontological AI-and-Law Framework for the Autonomous Levels of AI Legal Reasoning
Authors: Lance Eliot
Date: 2020-08-04 00:00:00
Tasks: Legal Reasoning

A framework is proposed that seeks to identify and establish a set of robust autonomous levels articulating the realm of Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning (AILR). Doing so provides a sound and parsimonious basis for being able to assess progress in the application of AI to the law, and can be utilized by scholars in academic pursuits of AI legal reasoning, along with being used by law practitioners and legal professionals in gauging how advances in AI are aiding the practice of law and the realization of aspirational versus achieved results. A set of seven levels of autonomy for AI and Legal Reasoning are meticulously proffered and mindfully discussed.
Artificial Intelligence in the Battle against Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Survey and Future Research Directions
Authors: Thanh Thi Nguyen, Quoc Viet Hung Nguyen, Dung Tien Nguyen, Samuel Yang, Peter W. Eklund, Thien Huynh-The, Thanh Tam Nguyen, Quoc-Viet Pham, Imran Razzak, Edbert B. Hsu
Date: 2020-07-30 00:00:00

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been applied widely in our daily lives in a variety of ways with numerous success stories. AI has also contributed to dealing with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has been happening around the globe. This paper presents a survey of AI methods being used in various applications in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak and outlines the crucial role of AI research in this unprecedented battle. We touch on areas where AI plays as an essential component, from medical image processing, data analytics, text mining and natural language processing, the Internet of Things, to computational biology and medicine. A summary of COVID-19 related data sources that are available for research purposes is also presented. Research directions on exploring the potential of AI and enhancing its capability and power in the pandemic battle are thoroughly discussed. We identify 13 groups of problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight promising AI methods and tools that can be used to address these problems. It is envisaged that this study will provide AI researchers and the wider community with an overview of the current status of AI applications, and motivate researchers to harness AI's potential in the fight against COVID-19.
Memory networks for consumer protection:unfairness exposed
Authors: Federico Ruggeri, Francesca Lagioia, Marco Lippi, Paolo Torroni
Date: 2020-07-24 00:00:00

Recent work has demonstrated how data-driven AI methods can leverage consumer protection by supporting the automated analysis of legal documents. However, a shortcoming of data-driven approaches is poor explainability. We posit that in this domain useful explanations of classifier outcomes can be provided by resorting to legal rationales. We thus consider several configurations of memory-augmented neural networks where rationales are given a special role in the modeling of context knowledge. Our results show that rationales not only contribute to improve the classification accuracy, but are also able to offer meaningful, natural language explanations of otherwise opaque classifier outcomes.
A Patient-Centric Dataset of Images and Metadata for Identifying Melanomas Using Clinical Context
Authors: Veronica Rotemberg, Nicholas Kurtansky, Brigid Betz-Stablein, Liam Caffery, Emmanouil Chousakos, Noel Codella, Marc Combalia, Stephen Dusza, Pascale Guitera, David Gutman, Allan Halpern, Harald Kittler, Kivanc Kose, Steve Langer, Konstantinos Lioprys, Josep Malvehy, Shenara Musthaq, Jabpani Nanda, Ofer Reiter, George Shih, Alexander Stratigos, Philipp Tschandl, Jochen Weber, H. Peter Soyer
Date: 2020-08-07 00:00:00
Tasks: General Classification

Prior skin image datasets have not addressed patient-level information obtained from multiple skin lesions from the same patient. Though artificial intelligence classification algorithms have achieved expert-level performance in controlled studies examining single images, in practice dermatologists base their judgment holistically from multiple lesions on the same patient. The 2020 SIIM-ISIC Melanoma Classification challenge dataset described herein was constructed to address this discrepancy between prior challenges and clinical practice, providing for each image in the dataset an identifier allowing lesions from the same patient to be mapped to one another. This patient-level contextual information is frequently used by clinicians to diagnose melanoma and is especially useful in ruling out false positives in patients with many atypical nevi. The dataset represents 2,056 patients from three continents with an average of 16 lesions per patient, consisting of 33,126 dermoscopic images and 584 histopathologically confirmed melanomas compared with benign melanoma mimickers.