pwc-archive/papers-with-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Information Need in Metaverse Recordings - A Field Study
Authors: Patrick Steinert, Jan Mischkies, Stefan Wagenpfeil, Ingo Frommholz, Matthias L. Hemmje
Date: 2024-11-13 00:00:00
Tasks: Information Retrieval, Retrieval

Metaverse Recordings (MVRs) represent an emerging and underexplored media type within the field of Multimedia Information Retrieval (MMIR). This paper presents findings from a field study aimed at understanding the users information needs and search behaviors specific to MVR retrieval. By conducting and analyzing expert interviews, the study identifies application scenarios and highlights challenges in retrieving multimedia content from the metaverse. The results reveal existing application scenarios of MVRs and confirm the relevance of capturing time-series data from the graphical rendering process and related input-output devices, which are also highly relevant to user needs. Furthermore, the study provides a foundation for developing retrieval systems tailored to MVRs by defining use cases, user stereotypes, and specific requirements for MVR Retrieval systems. The findings contribute to a better understanding of information search behaviors in MVR Retrieval and pave the way for future research and system design in this field.
RNA-GPT: Multimodal Generative System for RNA Sequence Understanding
Authors: Yijia Xiao, Edward Sun, Yiqiao Jin, Wei Wang
Date: 2024-10-29 00:00:00

RNAs are essential molecules that carry genetic information vital for life, with profound implications for drug development and biotechnology. Despite this importance, RNA research is often hindered by the vast literature available on the topic. To streamline this process, we introduce RNA-GPT, a multi-modal RNA chat model designed to simplify RNA discovery by leveraging extensive RNA literature. RNA-GPT integrates RNA sequence encoders with linear projection layers and state-of-the-art large language models (LLMs) for precise representation alignment, enabling it to process user-uploaded RNA sequences and deliver concise, accurate responses. Built on a scalable training pipeline, RNA-GPT utilizes RNA-QA, an automated system that gathers RNA annotations from RNACentral using a divide-and-conquer approach with GPT-4o and latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) to efficiently handle large datasets and generate instruction-tuning samples. Our experiments indicate that RNA-GPT effectively addresses complex RNA queries, thereby facilitating RNA research. Additionally, we present RNA-QA, a dataset of 407,616 RNA samples for modality alignment and instruction tuning, further advancing the potential of RNA research tools.
Automated Feedback in Math Education: A Comparative Analysis of LLMs for Open-Ended Responses
Authors: Sami Baral, Eamon Worden, Wen-Chiang Lim, Zhuang Luo, Christopher Santorelli, Ashish Gurung, Neil Heffernan
Date: 2024-10-29 00:00:00
Tasks: Math, Zero-Shot Learning

The effectiveness of feedback in enhancing learning outcomes is well documented within Educational Data Mining (EDM). Various prior research has explored methodologies to enhance the effectiveness of feedback. Recent developments in Large Language Models (LLMs) have extended their utility in enhancing automated feedback systems. This study aims to explore the potential of LLMs in facilitating automated feedback in math education. We examine the effectiveness of LLMs in evaluating student responses by comparing 3 different models: Llama, SBERT-Canberra, and GPT4 model. The evaluation requires the model to provide both a quantitative score and qualitative feedback on the student's responses to open-ended math problems. We employ Mistral, a version of Llama catered to math, and fine-tune this model for evaluating student responses by leveraging a dataset of student responses and teacher-written feedback for middle-school math problems. A similar approach was taken for training the SBERT model as well, while the GPT4 model used a zero-shot learning approach. We evaluate the model's performance in scoring accuracy and the quality of feedback by utilizing judgments from 2 teachers. The teachers utilized a shared rubric in assessing the accuracy and relevance of the generated feedback. We conduct both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the model performance. By offering a detailed comparison of these methods, this study aims to further the ongoing development of automated feedback systems and outlines potential future directions for leveraging generative LLMs to create more personalized learning experiences.
Assessing the Auditability of AI-integrating Systems: A Framework and Learning Analytics Case Study
Authors: Linda Fernsel, Yannick Kalff, Katharina Simbeck
Date: 2024-10-29 00:00:00
Tasks: Ethics

Audits contribute to the trustworthiness of Learning Analytics (LA) systems that integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and may be legally required in the future. We argue that the efficacy of an audit depends on the auditability of the audited system. Therefore, systems need to be designed with auditability in mind. We present a framework for assessing the auditability of AI-integrating systems that consists of three parts: (1) Verifiable claims about the validity, utility and ethics of the system, (2) Evidence on subjects (data, models or the system) in different types (documentation, raw sources and logs) to back or refute claims, (3) Evidence must be accessible to auditors via technical means (APIs, monitoring tools, explainable AI, etc.). We apply the framework to assess the auditability of Moodle's dropout prediction system and a prototype AI-based LA. We find that Moodle's auditability is limited by incomplete documentation, insufficient monitoring capabilities and a lack of available test data. The framework supports assessing the auditability of AI-based LA systems in use and improves the design of auditable systems and thus of audits.
Temporal Patterns of Multiple Long-Term Conditions in Individuals with Intellectual Disability Living in Wales: An Unsupervised Clustering Approach to Disease Trajectories
Authors: Rania Kousovista, Georgina Cosma, Emeka Abakasanga, Ashley Akbari, Francesco Zaccardi, Gyuchan Thomas Jun, Reza Kiani, Satheesh Gangadharan
Date: 2024-10-28 00:00:00

Identifying and understanding the co-occurrence of multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) in individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) is vital for effective healthcare management. These individuals often face earlier onset and higher prevalence of MLTCs, yet specific co-occurrence patterns remain unexplored. This study applies an unsupervised approach to characterise MLTC clusters based on shared disease trajectories using electronic health records (EHRs) from 13069 individuals with ID in Wales (2000-2021). Disease associations and temporal directionality were assessed, followed by spectral clustering to group shared trajectories. The population consisted of 52.3% males and 47.7% females, with an average of 4.5 conditions per patient. Males under 45 formed a single cluster dominated by neurological conditions (32.4%), while males above 45 had three clusters, the largest characterised circulatory (51.8%). Females under 45 formed one cluster with digestive conditions (24.6%) as most prevalent, while those aged 45 and older showed two clusters: one dominated by circulatory (34.1%), and the other by digestive (25.9%) and musculoskeletal (21.9%) system conditions. Mental illness, epilepsy, and reflux were common across groups. These clusters offer insights into disease progression in individuals with ID, informing targeted interventions and personalised healthcare strategies.
Auto-assessment of assessment: A conceptual framework towards fulfilling the policy gaps in academic assessment practices
Authors: Wasiq Khan, Luke K. Topham, Peter Atherton, Raghad Al-Shabandar, Hoshang Kolivand, Iftikhar Khan, Abir Hussain
Date: 2024-10-28 00:00:00

Education is being transformed by rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), including emerging Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI). Such technology can significantly support academics and students by automating monotonous tasks and making personalised suggestions. However, despite the potential of the technology, there are significant concerns regarding AI misuse, particularly by students in assessments. There are two schools of thought: one advocates for a complete ban on it, while the other views it as a valuable educational tool, provided it is governed by a robust usage policy. This contradiction clearly indicates a major policy gap in academic practices, and new policies are required to uphold academic standards while enabling staff and students to benefit from technological advancements. We surveyed 117 academics from three countries (UK, UAE, and Iraq), and identified that most academics retain positive opinions regarding AI in education. For example, the majority of experienced academics do not favour complete bans, and they see the potential benefits of AI for students, teaching staff, and academic institutions. Importantly, academics specifically identified the particular benefits of AI for autonomous assessment (71.79% of respondents agreed). Therefore, for the first time, we propose a novel AI framework for autonomously evaluating students' work (e.g., reports, coursework, etc.) and automatically assigning grades based on their knowledge and in-depth understanding of the submitted content. The survey results further highlight a significant lack of awareness of modern AI-based tools (e.g., ChatGPT) among experienced academics, a gap that must be addressed to uphold educational standards.
Spotlight Session on Autonomous Weapons Systems at ICRC 34th International Conference
Authors: Susannah Kate Conroy
Date: 2024-10-28 00:00:00
Tasks: Humanitarian

Autonomous weapons systems (AWS) change the way humans make decisions, the effect of those decisions and who is accountable for decisions made. We must remain vigilant, informed and human-centred as we tackle our deliberations on developing norms regarding their development, use and justification. Ways to enhance compliance in international humanitarian law (IHL) include: Training weapons decision makers in IHL; developing best practice in weapons reviews including requirements for industry to ensure that any new weapon, means or method of warfare is capable of being used lawfully; develop human-centred test and evaluation methods; invest in digital infrastructure to increase knowledge of the civilian environment in a conflict and its dynamics; invest in research on the real effects and consequences of civilian harms to the achievement of military and political objectives; improve secure communications between stakeholders in a conflict; and finally to upskill governments and NGOs in what is technically achievable with emerging technologies so that they can contribute to system requirements, test and evaluation protocols and operational rules of use and engagement. Governments are responsible for setting requirements for weapons systems. They are responsible for driving ethicality as well as lethality. Governments can require systems to be made and used to better protect civilians and protected objects. The UN can advocate for compliance with IHL, human rights, human-centred use of weapons systems and improved mechanisms to monitor and trace military decision making including those decisions affected by autonomous functionality.
Exploring Capabilities of Time Series Foundation Models in Building Analytics
Authors: Xiachong Lin, Arian Prabowo, Imran Razzak, Hao Xue, Matthew Amos, Sam Behrens, Flora D. Salim
Date: 2024-10-28 00:00:00
Tasks: Benchmarking, energy management, Management, Time Series

The growing integration of digitized infrastructure with Internet of Things (IoT) networks has transformed the management and optimization of building energy consumption. By leveraging IoT-based monitoring systems, stakeholders such as building managers, energy suppliers, and policymakers can make data-driven decisions to improve energy efficiency. However, accurate energy forecasting and analytics face persistent challenges, primarily due to the inherent physical constraints of buildings and the diverse, heterogeneous nature of IoT-generated data. In this study, we conduct a comprehensive benchmarking of two publicly available IoT datasets, evaluating the performance of time series foundation models in the context of building energy analytics. Our analysis shows that single-modal models demonstrate significant promise in overcoming the complexities of data variability and physical limitations in buildings, with future work focusing on optimizing multi-modal models for sustainable energy management.
Quantifying Risk Propensities of Large Language Models: Ethical Focus and Bias Detection through Role-Play
Authors: Yifan Zeng, Liang Kairong, Fangzhou Dong, Peijia Zheng
Date: 2024-10-26 00:00:00
Tasks: Bias Detection, Decision Making, Ethics

As Large Language Models (LLMs) become more prevalent, concerns about their safety, ethics, and potential biases have risen. Systematically evaluating LLMs' risk decision-making tendencies and attitudes, particularly in the ethical domain, has become crucial. This study innovatively applies the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT) scale from cognitive science to LLMs and proposes a novel Ethical Decision-Making Risk Attitude Scale (EDRAS) to assess LLMs' ethical risk attitudes in depth. We further propose a novel approach integrating risk scales and role-playing to quantitatively evaluate systematic biases in LLMs. Through systematic evaluation and analysis of multiple mainstream LLMs, we assessed the "risk personalities" of LLMs across multiple domains, with a particular focus on the ethical domain, and revealed and quantified LLMs' systematic biases towards different groups. This research helps understand LLMs' risk decision-making and ensure their safe and reliable application. Our approach provides a tool for identifying and mitigating biases, contributing to fairer and more trustworthy AI systems. The code and data are available.
Can We Trust AI Agents? A Case Study of an LLM-Based Multi-Agent System for Ethical AI
Authors: José Antonio Siqueira de Cerqueira, Mamia Agbese, Rebekah Rousi, Nannan Xi, Juho Hamari, Pekka Abrahamsson
Date: 2024-10-25 00:00:00
Tasks: Bias Detection, Ethics, Fairness, Misinformation

AI-based systems, including Large Language Models (LLM), impact millions by supporting diverse tasks but face issues like misinformation, bias, and misuse. AI ethics is crucial as new technologies and concerns emerge, but objective, practical guidance remains debated. This study examines the use of LLMs for AI ethics in practice, assessing how LLM trustworthiness-enhancing techniques affect software development in this context. Using the Design Science Research (DSR) method, we identify techniques for LLM trustworthiness: multi-agents, distinct roles, structured communication, and multiple rounds of debate. We design a multi-agent prototype LLM-MAS, where agents engage in structured discussions on real-world AI ethics issues from the AI Incident Database. We evaluate the prototype across three case scenarios using thematic analysis, hierarchical clustering, comparative (baseline) studies, and running source code. The system generates approximately 2,000 lines of code per case, compared to only 80 lines in baseline trials. Discussions reveal terms like bias detection, transparency, accountability, user consent, GDPR compliance, fairness evaluation, and EU AI Act compliance, showing this prototype ability to generate extensive source code and documentation addressing often overlooked AI ethics issues. However, practical challenges in source code integration and dependency management may limit its use by practitioners.
DBgDel: Database-Enhanced Gene Deletion Framework for Growth-Coupled Production in Genome-Scale Metabolic Models
Authors: Ziwei Yang, Takeyuki Tamura
Date: 2024-11-12 00:00:00
Tasks: Computational Efficiency

When simulating metabolite productions with genome-scale constraint-based metabolic models, gene deletion strategies are necessary to achieve growth-coupled production, which means cell growth and target metabolite production occur simultaneously. Since obtaining gene deletion strategies for large genome-scale models suffers from significant computational time, it is necessary to develop methods to mitigate this computational burden. In this study, we introduce a novel framework for computing gene deletion strategies. The proposed framework first mines related databases to extract prior information about gene deletions for growth-coupled production. It then integrates the extracted information with downstream algorithms to narrow down the algorithmic search space, resulting in highly efficient calculations on genome-scale models. Computational experiment results demonstrated that our framework can compute stoichiometrically feasible gene deletion strategies for numerous target metabolites, showcasing a noteworthy improvement in computational efficiency. Specifically, our framework achieves an average 6.1-fold acceleration in computational speed compared to existing methods while maintaining a respectable success rate. The source code of DBgDel with examples are available on https://github.com/MetNetComp/DBgDel.
GraphAide: Advanced Graph-Assisted Query and Reasoning System
Authors: Sumit Purohit, George Chin, Patrick S Mackey, Joseph A Cottam
Date: 2024-10-29 00:00:00
Tasks: named-entity-recognition, Named Entity Recognition, RAG, Retrieval-augmented Generation

Curating knowledge from multiple siloed sources that contain both structured and unstructured data is a major challenge in many real-world applications. Pattern matching and querying represent fundamental tasks in modern data analytics that leverage this curated knowledge. The development of such applications necessitates overcoming several research challenges, including data extraction, named entity recognition, data modeling, and designing query interfaces. Moreover, the explainability of these functionalities is critical for their broader adoption. The emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) has accelerated the development lifecycle of new capabilities. Nonetheless, there is an ongoing need for domain-specific tools tailored to user activities. The creation of digital assistants has gained considerable traction in recent years, with LLMs offering a promising avenue to develop such assistants utilizing domain-specific knowledge and assumptions. In this context, we introduce an advanced query and reasoning system, GraphAide, which constructs a knowledge graph (KG) from diverse sources and allows to query and reason over the resulting KG. GraphAide harnesses both the KG and LLMs to rapidly develop domain-specific digital assistants. It integrates design patterns from retrieval augmented generation (RAG) and the semantic web to create an agentic LLM application. GraphAide underscores the potential for streamlined and efficient development of specialized digital assistants, thereby enhancing their applicability across various domains.
GREI Data Repository AI Taxonomy
Authors: John Chodacki, Mark Hanhel, Stefano Iacus, Ryan Scherle, Eric Olson, Nici Pfeiffer, Kristi Holmes, Mohammad Hosseini
Date: 2024-11-07 00:00:00
Tasks: Management

The Generalist Repository Ecosystem Initiative (GREI), funded by the NIH, developed an AI taxonomy tailored to data repository roles to guide AI integration across repository management. It categorizes the roles into stages, including acquisition, validation, organization, enhancement, analysis, sharing, and user support, providing a structured framework for implementing AI in repository workflows.
Prices, Bids, Values: One ML-Powered Combinatorial Auction to Rule Them All
Authors: Ermis Soumalias, Jakob Heiss, Jakob Weissteiner, Sven Seuken
Date: 2024-11-14 00:00:00
Tasks: All

We study the design of iterative combinatorial auctions (ICAs). The main challenge in this domain is that the bundle space grows exponentially in the number of items. To address this, recent work has proposed machine learning (ML)-based preference elicitation algorithms that aim to elicit only the most critical information from bidders to maximize efficiency. However, while the SOTA ML-based algorithms elicit bidders' preferences via value queries, ICAs that are used in practice elicit information via demand queries. In this paper, we introduce a novel ML algorithm that provably makes use of the full information from both value and demand queries, and we show via experiments that combining both query types results in significantly better learning performance in practice. Building on these insights, we present MLHCA, a new ML-powered auction that uses value and demand queries. MLHCA substantially outperforms the previous SOTA, reducing efficiency loss by up to a factor 10, with up to 58% fewer queries. Thus, MLHCA achieves large efficiency improvements while also reducing bidders' cognitive load, establishing a new benchmark for both practicability and efficiency.
A Machine Learning based Hybrid Receiver for 5G NR PRACH
Authors: Rohit Singh, Anil Kumar Yerrapragada, Radha Krishna Ganti
Date: 2024-11-03 00:00:00

Random Access is a critical procedure using which a User Equipment (UE) identifies itself to a Base Station (BS). Random Access starts with the UE transmitting a random preamble on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH). In a conventional BS receiver, the UE's specific preamble is identified by correlation with all the possible preambles. The PRACH signal is also used to estimate the timing advance which is induced by propagation delay. Correlation-based receivers suffer from false peaks and missed detection in scenarios dominated by high fading and low signal-to-noise ratio. This paper describes the design of a hybrid receiver that consists of an AI/ML model for preamble detection followed by conventional peak detection for the Timing Advance estimation. The proposed receiver combines the Power Delay Profiles of correlation windows across multiple antennas and uses the combination as input to a Neural Network model. The model predicts the presence or absence of a user in a particular preamble window, after which the timing advance is estimated by peak detection. Results show superior performance of the hybrid receiver compared to conventional receivers both for simulated and real hardware-captured datasets.
Wireless Federated Learning over UAV-enabled Integrated Sensing and Communication
Authors: Shaba Shaon, Tien Nguyen, Lina Mohjazi, Aryan Kaushik, Dinh C. Nguyen
Date: 2024-11-01 00:00:00
Tasks: Federated Learning, Integrated sensing and communication

This paper studies a new latency optimization problem in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)-enabled federated learning (FL) with integrated sensing and communication. In this setup, distributed UAVs participate in model training using sensed data and collaborate with a base station (BS) serving as FL aggregator to build a global model. The objective is to minimize the FL system latency over UAV networks by jointly optimizing UAVs' trajectory and resource allocation of both UAVs and the BS. The formulated optimization problem is troublesome to solve due to its non-convexity. Hence, we develop a simple yet efficient iterative algorithm to find a high-quality approximate solution, by leveraging block coordinate descent and successive convex approximation techniques. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed joint optimization strategy under practical parameter settings, saving the system latency up to 68.54\% compared to benchmark schemes.