pwc-archive/papers-with-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Beyond Human-Like Processing: Large Language Models Perform Equivalently on Forward and Backward Scientific Text
Authors: Xiaoliang Luo, Michael Ramscar, Bradley C. Love
Date: 2024-11-17 00:00:00
Tasks: Protein Design

The impressive performance of large language models (LLMs) has led to their consideration as models of human language processing. Instead, we suggest that the success of LLMs arises from the flexibility of the transformer learning architecture. To evaluate this conjecture, we trained LLMs on scientific texts that were either in a forward or backward format. Despite backward text being inconsistent with the structure of human languages, we found that LLMs performed equally well in either format on a neuroscience benchmark, eclipsing human expert performance for both forward and backward orders. Our results are consistent with the success of transformers across diverse domains, such as weather prediction and protein design. This widespread success is attributable to LLM's ability to extract predictive patterns from any sufficiently structured input. Given their generality, we suggest caution in interpreting LLM's success in linguistic tasks as evidence for human-like mechanisms.
FastDraft: How to Train Your Draft
Authors: Ofir Zafrir, Igor Margulis, Dorin Shteyman, Shira Guskin, Guy Boudoukh
Date: 2024-11-17 00:00:00
Tasks: Benchmarking, Code Completion, Large Language Model

Speculative Decoding has gained popularity as an effective technique for accelerating the auto-regressive inference process of Large Language Models. However, Speculative Decoding entirely relies on the availability of efficient draft models, which are often lacking for many existing language models due to a stringent constraint of vocabulary compatibility. In this work we introduce FastDraft, a novel and efficient approach for pre-training and aligning a draft model to any large language model by incorporating efficient pre-training, followed by fine-tuning over synthetic datasets generated by the target model. We demonstrate FastDraft by training two highly parameter efficient drafts for the popular Phi-3-mini and Llama-3.1-8B models. Using FastDraft, we were able to produce a draft model with approximately 10 billion tokens on a single server with 8 Intel$^\circledR$ Gaudi$^\circledR$ 2 accelerators in under 24 hours. Our results show that the draft model achieves impressive results in key metrics of acceptance rate, block efficiency and up to 3x memory bound speed up when evaluated on code completion and up to 2x in summarization, text completion and instruction tasks. We validate our theoretical findings through benchmarking on the latest Intel$^\circledR$ Core$^{\tiny \text{TM}}$ Ultra, achieving a wall-clock time speedup of up to 2x, indicating a significant reduction in runtime. Due to its high quality, FastDraft unlocks large language models inference on AI-PC and other edge-devices.
A Topic-aware Comparable Corpus of Chinese Variations
Authors: Da-Chen Lian, Shu-Kai Hsieh
Date: 2024-11-17 00:00:00

This study aims to fill the gap by constructing a topic-aware comparable corpus of Mainland Chinese Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin from the social media in Mainland China and Taiwan, respectively. Using Dcard for Taiwanese Mandarin and Sina Weibo for Mainland Chinese, we create a comparable corpus that updates regularly and reflects modern language use on social media.
Dialectal Toxicity Detection: Evaluating LLM-as-a-Judge Consistency Across Language Varieties
Authors: Fahim Faisal, Md Mushfiqur Rahman, Antonios Anastasopoulos
Date: 2024-11-17 00:00:00

There has been little systematic study on how dialectal differences affect toxicity detection by modern LLMs. Furthermore, although using LLMs as evaluators ("LLM-as-a-judge") is a growing research area, their sensitivity to dialectal nuances is still underexplored and requires more focused attention. In this paper, we address these gaps through a comprehensive toxicity evaluation of LLMs across diverse dialects. We create a multi-dialect dataset through synthetic transformations and human-assisted translations, covering 10 language clusters and 60 varieties. We then evaluated three LLMs on their ability to assess toxicity across multilingual, dialectal, and LLM-human consistency. Our findings show that LLMs are sensitive in handling both multilingual and dialectal variations. However, if we have to rank the consistency, the weakest area is LLM-human agreement, followed by dialectal consistency. Code repository: \url{https://github.com/ffaisal93/dialect_toxicity_llm_judge}
Understanding Multimodal LLMs: the Mechanistic Interpretability of Llava in Visual Question Answering
Authors: Zeping Yu, Sophia Ananiadou
Date: 2024-11-17 00:00:00
Tasks: Hallucination, In-Context Learning, Question Answering, Visual Question Answering, Visual Question Answering (VQA)

Understanding the mechanisms behind Large Language Models (LLMs) is crucial for designing improved models and strategies. While recent studies have yielded valuable insights into the mechanisms of textual LLMs, the mechanisms of Multi-modal Large Language Models (MLLMs) remain underexplored. In this paper, we apply mechanistic interpretability methods to analyze the visual question answering (VQA) mechanisms in the first MLLM, Llava. We compare the mechanisms between VQA and textual QA (TQA) in color answering tasks and find that: a) VQA exhibits a mechanism similar to the in-context learning mechanism observed in TQA; b) the visual features exhibit significant interpretability when projecting the visual embeddings into the embedding space; and c) Llava enhances the existing capabilities of the corresponding textual LLM Vicuna during visual instruction tuning. Based on these findings, we develop an interpretability tool to help users and researchers identify important visual locations for final predictions, aiding in the understanding of visual hallucination. Our method demonstrates faster and more effective results compared to existing interpretability approaches. Code: \url{https://github.com/zepingyu0512/llava-mechanism}
Analyzing Pokémon and Mario Streamers' Twitch Chat with LLM-based User Embeddings
Authors: Mika Hämäläinen, Jack Rueter, Khalid Alnajjar
Date: 2024-11-17 00:00:00
Tasks: Clustering, Language Modeling, Language Modelling, Large Language Model

We present a novel digital humanities method for representing our Twitch chatters as user embeddings created by a large language model (LLM). We cluster these embeddings automatically using affinity propagation and further narrow this clustering down through manual analysis. We analyze the chat of one stream by each Twitch streamer: SmallAnt, DougDoug and PointCrow. Our findings suggest that each streamer has their own type of chatters, however two categories emerge for all of the streamers: supportive viewers and emoji and reaction senders. Repetitive message spammers is a shared chatter category for two of the streamers.
Inter-linguistic Phonetic Composition (IPC): A Theoretical and Computational Approach to Enhance Second Language Pronunciation
Authors: Jisang Park, Minu Kim, DaYoung Hong, Jongha Lee
Date: 2024-11-17 00:00:00
Tasks: Automatic Speech Recognition, speech-recognition, Speech Recognition

Learners of a second language (L2) often unconsciously substitute unfamiliar L2 phonemes with similar phonemes from their native language (L1), even though native speakers of the L2 perceive these sounds as distinct and non-interchangeable. This phonemic substitution leads to deviations from the standard phonological patterns of the L2, creating challenges for learners in acquiring accurate L2 pronunciation. To address this, we propose Inter-linguistic Phonetic Composition (IPC), a novel computational method designed to minimize incorrect phonological transfer by reconstructing L2 phonemes as composite sounds derived from multiple L1 phonemes. Tests with two automatic speech recognition models demonstrated that when L2 speakers produced IPC-generated composite sounds, the recognition rate of target L2 phonemes improved by 20% compared to when their pronunciation was influenced by original phonological transfer patterns. The improvement was observed within a relatively shorter time frame, demonstrating rapid acquisition of the composite sound.
Improving Math Problem Solving in Large Language Models Through Categorization and Strategy Tailoring
Authors: Amogh Akella
Date: 2024-10-29 00:00:00
Tasks: Math

In this paper, we explore how to leverage large language models (LLMs) to solve mathematical problems efficiently and accurately. Specifically, we demonstrate the effectiveness of classifying problems into distinct categories and employing category-specific problem-solving strategies to improve the mathematical performance of LLMs. We design a simple yet intuitive machine learning model for problem categorization and show that its accuracy can be significantly enhanced through the development of well-curated training datasets. Additionally, we find that the performance of this simple model approaches that of state-of-the-art (SOTA) models for categorization. Moreover, the accuracy of SOTA models also benefits from the use of improved training data. Finally, we assess the advantages of using category-specific strategies when prompting LLMs and observe significantly better performance compared to non-tailored approaches.
BPO: Towards Balanced Preference Optimization between Knowledge Breadth and Depth in Alignment
Authors: Sizhe Wang, Yongqi Tong, Hengyuan Zhang, Dawei Li, Xin Zhang, Tianlong Chen
Date: 2024-11-16 00:00:00
Tasks: Informativeness

Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF) is the key to the success of large language models (LLMs) in recent years. In this work, we first introduce the concepts of knowledge breadth and knowledge depth, which measure the comprehensiveness and depth of an LLM or knowledge source respectively. We reveal that the imbalance in the number of prompts and responses can lead to a potential disparity in breadth and depth learning within alignment tuning datasets by showing that even a simple uniform method for balancing the number of instructions and responses can lead to significant improvements. Building on this, we further propose Balanced Preference Optimization (BPO), designed to dynamically augment the knowledge depth of each sample. BPO is motivated by the observation that the usefulness of knowledge varies across samples, necessitating tailored learning of knowledge depth. To achieve this, we introduce gradient-based clustering, estimating the knowledge informativeness and usefulness of each augmented sample based on the model's optimization direction. Our experimental results across various benchmarks demonstrate that BPO outperforms other baseline methods in alignment tuning while maintaining training efficiency. Furthermore, we conduct a detailed analysis of each component of BPO, providing guidelines for future research in preference data optimization.
SPICA: Retrieving Scenarios for Pluralistic In-Context Alignment
Authors: Quan Ze Chen, K. J. Kevin Feng, Chan Young Park, Amy X. Zhang
Date: 2024-11-16 00:00:00
Tasks: In-Context Learning, Retrieval

When different groups' values differ, one approach to model alignment is to steer models at inference time towards each group's preferences. However, techniques like in-context learning only consider similarity when drawing few-shot examples and not cross-group differences in values. We propose SPICA, a framework that accounts for group-level differences during in-context example retrieval. SPICA introduces three designs: scenario banks, group-informed retrieval metrics, and in-context alignment prompts. From an evaluation of SPICA on an alignment task collecting inputs from four demographic groups ($n = 544$), our metrics retrieve in-context examples that more closely match observed preferences, with the best prompt configuration using multiple contrastive responses to demonstrate examples. In an end-to-end evaluation ($n = 120$), we observe that SPICA is higher rated than similarity-based retrieval, with groups seeing up to a +0.16 point improvement on a 5 point scale. Additionally, gains from SPICA were more uniform, with all groups benefiting from alignment rather than only some. Finally, we find that while a group-agnostic approach can align to aggregated values, it is not most suited for divergent groups.
Large Language Models (LLMs) as Traffic Control Systems at Urban Intersections: A New Paradigm
Authors: Sari Masri, Huthaifa I. Ashqar, Mohammed Elhenawy
Date: 2024-11-16 00:00:00
Tasks: Autonomous Vehicles, Decision Making, Logical Reasoning, Management, Prompt Engineering, Scene Understanding

This study introduces a novel approach for traffic control systems by using Large Language Models (LLMs) as traffic controllers. The study utilizes their logical reasoning, scene understanding, and decision-making capabilities to optimize throughput and provide feedback based on traffic conditions in real-time. LLMs centralize traditionally disconnected traffic control processes and can integrate traffic data from diverse sources to provide context-aware decisions. LLMs can also deliver tailored outputs using various means such as wireless signals and visuals to drivers, infrastructures, and autonomous vehicles. To evaluate LLMs ability as traffic controllers, this study proposed a four-stage methodology. The methodology includes data creation and environment initialization, prompt engineering, conflict identification, and fine-tuning. We simulated multi-lane four-leg intersection scenarios and generates detailed datasets to enable conflict detection using LLMs and Python simulation as a ground truth. We used chain-of-thought prompts to lead LLMs in understanding the context, detecting conflicts, resolving them using traffic rules, and delivering context-sensitive traffic management solutions. We evaluated the prformance GPT-mini, Gemini, and Llama as traffic controllers. Results showed that the fine-tuned GPT-mini achieved 83% accuracy and an F1-score of 0.84. GPT-mini model exhibited a promising performance in generating actionable traffic management insights, with high ROUGE-L scores across conflict identification of 0.95, decision-making of 0.91, priority assignment of 0.94, and waiting time optimization of 0.92. We demonstrated that LLMs can offer precise recommendations to drivers in real-time including yielding, slowing, or stopping based on vehicle dynamics.
Information Anxiety in Large Language Models
Authors: Prasoon Bajpai, Sarah Masud, Tanmoy Chakraborty
Date: 2024-11-16 00:00:00
Tasks: Retrieval

Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated strong performance as knowledge repositories, enabling models to understand user queries and generate accurate and context-aware responses. Extensive evaluation setups have corroborated the positive correlation between the retrieval capability of LLMs and the frequency of entities in their pretraining corpus. We take the investigation further by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the internal reasoning and retrieval mechanisms of LLMs. Our work focuses on three critical dimensions - the impact of entity popularity, the models' sensitivity to lexical variations in query formulation, and the progression of hidden state representations across LLM layers. Our preliminary findings reveal that popular questions facilitate early convergence of internal states toward the correct answer. However, as the popularity of a query increases, retrieved attributes across lexical variations become increasingly dissimilar and less accurate. Interestingly, we find that LLMs struggle to disentangle facts, grounded in distinct relations, from their parametric memory when dealing with highly popular subjects. Through a case study, we explore these latent strains within LLMs when processing highly popular queries, a phenomenon we term information anxiety. The emergence of information anxiety in LLMs underscores the adversarial injection in the form of linguistic variations and calls for a more holistic evaluation of frequently occurring entities.
Can Generic LLMs Help Analyze Child-adult Interactions Involving Children with Autism in Clinical Observation?
Authors: Tiantian Feng, Anfeng Xu, Rimita Lahiri, Helen Tager-Flusberg, So Hyun Kim, Somer Bishop, Catherine Lord, Shrikanth Narayanan
Date: 2024-11-16 00:00:00
Tasks: Skills Evaluation

Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown significant potential in understanding human communication and interaction. However, their performance in the domain of child-inclusive interactions, including in clinical settings, remains less explored. In this work, we evaluate generic LLMs' ability to analyze child-adult dyadic interactions in a clinically relevant context involving children with ASD. Specifically, we explore LLMs in performing four tasks: classifying child-adult utterances, predicting engaged activities, recognizing language skills and understanding traits that are clinically relevant. Our evaluation shows that generic LLMs are highly capable of analyzing long and complex conversations in clinical observation sessions, often surpassing the performance of non-expert human evaluators. The results show their potential to segment interactions of interest, assist in language skills evaluation, identify engaged activities, and offer clinical-relevant context for assessments.
Chain-of-Programming (CoP) : Empowering Large Language Models for Geospatial Code Generation
Authors: Shuyang Hou, Haoyue Jiao, Zhangxiao Shen, Jianyuan Liang, Anqi Zhao, Xiaopu Zhang, JianXun Wang, Huayi Wu
Date: 2024-11-16 00:00:00
Tasks: Code Generation, Data Visualization, Hallucination

With the rapid growth of interdisciplinary demands for geospatial modeling and the rise of large language models (LLMs), geospatial code generation technology has seen significant advancements. However, existing LLMs often face challenges in the geospatial code generation process due to incomplete or unclear user requirements and insufficient knowledge of specific platform syntax rules, leading to the generation of non-executable code, a phenomenon known as "code hallucination." To address this issue, this paper proposes a Chain of Programming (CoP) framework, which decomposes the code generation process into five steps: requirement analysis, algorithm design, code implementation, code debugging, and code annotation. The framework incorporates a shared information pool, knowledge base retrieval, and user feedback mechanisms, forming an end-to-end code generation flow from requirements to code without the need for model fine-tuning. Based on a geospatial problem classification framework and evaluation benchmarks, the CoP strategy significantly improves the logical clarity, syntactical correctness, and executability of the generated code, with improvements ranging from 3.0% to 48.8%. Comparative and ablation experiments further validate the superiority of the CoP strategy over other optimization approaches and confirm the rationality and necessity of its key components. Through case studies on building data visualization and fire data analysis, this paper demonstrates the application and effectiveness of CoP in various geospatial scenarios. The CoP framework offers a systematic, step-by-step approach to LLM-based geospatial code generation tasks, significantly enhancing code generation performance in geospatial tasks and providing valuable insights for code generation in other vertical domains.
Comparison of Multilingual and Bilingual Models for Satirical News Detection of Arabic and English
Authors: Omar W. Abdalla, Aditya Joshi, Rahat Masood, Salil S. Kanhere
Date: 2024-11-16 00:00:00
Tasks: Misinformation, Satire Detection

Satirical news is real news combined with a humorous comment or exaggerated content, and it often mimics the format and style of real news. However, satirical news is often misunderstood as misinformation, especially by individuals from different cultural and social backgrounds. This research addresses the challenge of distinguishing satire from truthful news by leveraging multilingual satire detection methods in English and Arabic. We explore both zero-shot and chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting using two language models, Jais-chat(13B) and LLaMA-2-chat(7B). Our results show that CoT prompting offers a significant advantage for the Jais-chat model over the LLaMA-2-chat model. Specifically, Jais-chat achieved the best performance, with an F1-score of 80\% in English when using CoT prompting. These results highlight the importance of structured reasoning in CoT, which enhances contextual understanding and is vital for complex tasks like satire detection.
HJ-Ky-0.1: an Evaluation Dataset for Kyrgyz Word Embeddings
Authors: Anton Alekseev, Gulnara Kabaeva
Date: 2024-11-16 00:00:00
Tasks: Sentiment Analysis, Word Embeddings

One of the key tasks in modern applied computational linguistics is constructing word vector representations (word embeddings), which are widely used to address natural language processing tasks such as sentiment analysis, information extraction, and more. To choose an appropriate method for generating these word embeddings, quality assessment techniques are often necessary. A standard approach involves calculating distances between vectors for words with expert-assessed 'similarity'. This work introduces the first 'silver standard' dataset for such tasks in the Kyrgyz language, alongside training corresponding models and validating the dataset's suitability through quality evaluation metrics.
Structured Dialogue System for Mental Health: An LLM Chatbot Leveraging the PM+ Guidelines
Authors: Yixiang Chen, Xinyu Zhang, Jinran Wang, Xurong Xie, Nan Yan, Hui Chen, Lan Wang
Date: 2024-11-16 00:00:00
Tasks: Chatbot, Language Modeling, Language Modelling, Large Language Model, Management

The Structured Dialogue System, referred to as SuDoSys, is an innovative Large Language Model (LLM)-based chatbot designed to provide psychological counseling. SuDoSys leverages the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Problem Management Plus (PM+) guidelines to deliver stage-aware multi-turn dialogues. Existing methods for employing an LLM in multi-turn psychological counseling typically involve direct fine-tuning using generated dialogues, often neglecting the dynamic stage shifts of counseling sessions. Unlike previous approaches, SuDoSys considers the different stages of counseling and stores essential information throughout the counseling process, ensuring coherent and directed conversations. The system employs an LLM, a stage-aware instruction generator, a response unpacker, a topic database, and a stage controller to maintain dialogue flow. In addition, we propose a novel technique that simulates counseling clients to interact with the evaluated system and evaluate its performance automatically. When assessed using both objective and subjective evaluations, SuDoSys demonstrates its effectiveness in generating logically coherent responses. The system's code and program scripts for evaluation are open-sourced.