pwc-archive/papers-with-abstracts huggingface dataset:
DocReLM: Mastering Document Retrieval with Language Model
Authors: Gengchen Wei, Xinle Pang, Tianning Zhang, Yu Sun, Xun Qian, Chen Lin, Han-sen Zhong, Wanli Ouyang
Date: 2024-05-19 00:00:00
Tasks: Language Modeling, Language Modelling, model, Retrieval

With over 200 million published academic documents and millions of new documents being written each year, academic researchers face the challenge of searching for information within this vast corpus. However, existing retrieval systems struggle to understand the semantics and domain knowledge present in academic papers. In this work, we demonstrate that by utilizing large language models, a document retrieval system can achieve advanced semantic understanding capabilities, significantly outperforming existing systems. Our approach involves training the retriever and reranker using domain-specific data generated by large language models. Additionally, we utilize large language models to identify candidates from the references of retrieved papers to further enhance the performance. We use a test set annotated by academic researchers in the fields of quantum physics and computer vision to evaluate our system's performance. The results show that DocReLM achieves a Top 10 accuracy of 44.12% in computer vision, compared to Google Scholar's 15.69%, and an increase to 36.21% in quantum physics, while that of Google Scholar is 12.96%.
CPS-LLM: Large Language Model based Safe Usage Plan Generator for Human-in-the-Loop Human-in-the-Plant Cyber-Physical System
Authors: Ayan Banerjee, Aranyak Maity, Payal Kamboj, Sandeep K. S. Gupta
Date: 2024-05-19 00:00:00
Tasks: Chatbot, Language Modeling, Language Modelling, Large Language Model, Sequential Decision Making

We explore the usage of large language models (LLM) in human-in-the-loop human-in-the-plant cyber-physical systems (CPS) to translate a high-level prompt into a personalized plan of actions, and subsequently convert that plan into a grounded inference of sequential decision-making automated by a real-world CPS controller to achieve a control goal. We show that it is relatively straightforward to contextualize an LLM so it can generate domain-specific plans. However, these plans may be infeasible for the physical system to execute or the plan may be unsafe for human users. To address this, we propose CPS-LLM, an LLM retrained using an instruction tuning framework, which ensures that generated plans not only align with the physical system dynamics of the CPS but are also safe for human users. The CPS-LLM consists of two innovative components: a) a liquid time constant neural network-based physical dynamics coefficient estimator that can derive coefficients of dynamical models with some unmeasured state variables; b) the model coefficients are then used to train an LLM with prompts embodied with traces from the dynamical system and the corresponding model coefficients. We show that when the CPS-LLM is integrated with a contextualized chatbot such as BARD it can generate feasible and safe plans to manage external events such as meals for automated insulin delivery systems used by Type 1 Diabetes subjects.
Deep Dive into Model-free Reinforcement Learning for Biological and Robotic Systems: Theory and Practice
Authors: Yusheng Jiao, Feng Ling, Sina Heydari, Nicolas Heess, Josh Merel, Eva Kanso
Date: 2024-05-19 00:00:00
Tasks: Deep Reinforcement Learning, reinforcement-learning, Reinforcement Learning

Animals and robots exist in a physical world and must coordinate their bodies to achieve behavioral objectives. With recent developments in deep reinforcement learning, it is now possible for scientists and engineers to obtain sensorimotor strategies (policies) for specific tasks using physically simulated bodies and environments. However, the utility of these methods goes beyond the constraints of a specific task; they offer an exciting framework for understanding the organization of an animal sensorimotor system in connection to its morphology and physical interaction with the environment, as well as for deriving general design rules for sensing and actuation in robotic systems. Algorithms and code implementing both learning agents and environments are increasingly available, but the basic assumptions and choices that go into the formulation of an embodied feedback control problem using deep reinforcement learning may not be immediately apparent. Here, we present a concise exposition of the mathematical and algorithmic aspects of model-free reinforcement learning, specifically through the use of \textit{actor-critic} methods, as a tool for investigating the feedback control underlying animal and robotic behavior.
Error Analysis of Three-Layer Neural Network Trained with PGD for Deep Ritz Method
Authors: Yuling Jiao, Yanming Lai, Yang Wang
Date: 2024-05-19 00:00:00

Machine learning is a rapidly advancing field with diverse applications across various domains. One prominent area of research is the utilization of deep learning techniques for solving partial differential equations(PDEs). In this work, we specifically focus on employing a three-layer tanh neural network within the framework of the deep Ritz method(DRM) to solve second-order elliptic equations with three different types of boundary conditions. We perform projected gradient descent(PDG) to train the three-layer network and we establish its global convergence. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to provide a comprehensive error analysis of using overparameterized networks to solve PDE problems, as our analysis simultaneously includes estimates for approximation error, generalization error, and optimization error. We present error bound in terms of the sample size $n$ and our work provides guidance on how to set the network depth, width, step size, and number of iterations for the projected gradient descent algorithm. Importantly, our assumptions in this work are classical and we do not require any additional assumptions on the solution of the equation. This ensures the broad applicability and generality of our results.
Large Language Models are Biased Reinforcement Learners
Authors: William M. Hayes, Nicolas Yax, Stefano Palminteri
Date: 2024-05-19 00:00:00
Tasks: Decision Making, In-Context Learning, Reinforcement Learning (RL)

In-context learning enables large language models (LLMs) to perform a variety of tasks, including learning to make reward-maximizing choices in simple bandit tasks. Given their potential use as (autonomous) decision-making agents, it is important to understand how these models perform such reinforcement learning (RL) tasks and the extent to which they are susceptible to biases. Motivated by the fact that, in humans, it has been widely documented that the value of an outcome depends on how it compares to other local outcomes, the present study focuses on whether similar value encoding biases apply to how LLMs encode rewarding outcomes. Results from experiments with multiple bandit tasks and models show that LLMs exhibit behavioral signatures of a relative value bias. Adding explicit outcome comparisons to the prompt produces opposing effects on performance, enhancing maximization in trained choice sets but impairing generalization to new choice sets. Computational cognitive modeling reveals that LLM behavior is well-described by a simple RL algorithm that incorporates relative values at the outcome encoding stage. Lastly, we present preliminary evidence that the observed biases are not limited to fine-tuned LLMs, and that relative value processing is detectable in the final hidden layer activations of a raw, pretrained model. These findings have important implications for the use of LLMs in decision-making applications.
Assessing Group Fairness with Social Welfare Optimization
Authors: Violet Chen, J. N. Hooker, Derek Leben
Date: 2024-05-19 00:00:00
Tasks: Fairness

Statistical parity metrics have been widely studied and endorsed in the AI community as a means of achieving fairness, but they suffer from at least two weaknesses. They disregard the actual welfare consequences of decisions and may therefore fail to achieve the kind of fairness that is desired for disadvantaged groups. In addition, they are often incompatible with each other, and there is no convincing justification for selecting one rather than another. This paper explores whether a broader conception of social justice, based on optimizing a social welfare function (SWF), can be useful for assessing various definitions of parity. We focus on the well-known alpha fairness SWF, which has been defended by axiomatic and bargaining arguments over a period of 70 years. We analyze the optimal solution and show that it can justify demographic parity or equalized odds under certain conditions, but frequently requires a departure from these types of parity. In addition, we find that predictive rate parity is of limited usefulness. These results suggest that optimization theory can shed light on the intensely discussed question of how to achieve group fairness in AI.
Simulating Petri nets with Boolean Matrix Logic Programming
Authors: Lun Ai, Stephen H. Muggleton, Shi-Shun Liang, Geoff S. Baldwin
Date: 2024-05-18 00:00:00

Recent attention to relational knowledge bases has sparked a demand for understanding how relations change between entities. Petri nets can represent knowledge structure and dynamically simulate interactions between entities, and thus they are well suited for achieving this goal. However, logic programs struggle to deal with extensive Petri nets due to the limitations of high-level symbol manipulations. To address this challenge, we introduce a novel approach called Boolean Matrix Logic Programming (BMLP), utilising boolean matrices as an alternative computation mechanism for Prolog to evaluate logic programs. Within this framework, we propose two novel BMLP algorithms for simulating a class of Petri nets known as elementary nets. This is done by transforming elementary nets into logically equivalent datalog programs. We demonstrate empirically that BMLP algorithms can evaluate these programs 40 times faster than tabled B-Prolog, SWI-Prolog, XSB-Prolog and Clingo. Our work enables the efficient simulation of elementary nets using Prolog, expanding the scope of analysis, learning and verification of complex systems with logic programming techniques.
MapCoder: Multi-Agent Code Generation for Competitive Problem Solving
Authors: Md. Ashraful Islam, Mohammed Eunus Ali, Md Rizwan Parvez
Date: 2024-05-18 00:00:00
Tasks: Code Generation, HumanEval, mbpp, Program Synthesis

Code synthesis, which requires a deep understanding of complex natural language problem descriptions, generation of code instructions for complex algorithms and data structures, and the successful execution of comprehensive unit tests, presents a significant challenge. While large language models (LLMs) demonstrate impressive proficiency in natural language processing, their performance in code generation tasks remains limited. In this paper, we introduce a new approach to code generation tasks leveraging multi-agent prompting that uniquely replicates the full cycle of program synthesis as observed in human developers. Our framework, MapCoder, consists of four LLM agents specifically designed to emulate the stages of this cycle: recalling relevant examples, planning, code generation, and debugging. After conducting thorough experiments, with multiple LLM ablations and analyses across eight challenging competitive problem-solving and program synthesis benchmarks, MapCoder showcases remarkable code generation capabilities, achieving new state-of-the-art results (pass@1) on HumanEval (93.9%), MBPP (83.1%), APPS (22.0%), CodeContests (28.5%), and xCodeEval (45.3%). Moreover, our method consistently delivers superior performance across various programming languages and varying problem difficulties. We open-source our framework at https://github.com/Md-Ashraful-Pramanik/MapCoder.
A Model for Optimal Resilient Planning Subject to Fallible Actuators
Authors: Kyle Baldes, Diptanil Chaudhuri, Jason M. O'Kane, Dylan A. Shell
Date: 2024-05-18 00:00:00
Tasks: Scheduling

Robots incurring component failures ought to adapt their behavior to best realize still-attainable goals under reduced capacity. We formulate the problem of planning with actuators known a priori to be susceptible to failure within the Markov Decision Processes (MDP) framework. The model captures utilization-driven malfunction and state-action dependent likelihoods of actuator failure in order to enable reasoning about potential impairment and the long-term implications of impoverished future control. This leads to behavior differing qualitatively from plans which ignore failure. As actuators malfunction, there are combinatorially many configurations which can arise. We identify opportunities to save computation through re-use, exploiting the observation that differing configurations yield closely related problems. Our results show how strategic solutions are obtained so robots can respond when failures do occur -- for instance, in prudently scheduling utilization in order to keep critical actuators in reserve.
PDE Control Gym: A Benchmark for Data-Driven Boundary Control of Partial Differential Equations
Authors: Luke Bhan, Yuexin Bian, Miroslav Krstic, Yuanyuan Shi
Date: 2024-05-18 00:00:00
Tasks: reinforcement-learning, Reinforcement Learning

Over the last decade, data-driven methods have surged in popularity, emerging as valuable tools for control theory. As such, neural network approximations of control feedback laws, system dynamics, and even Lyapunov functions have attracted growing attention. With the ascent of learning based control, the need for accurate, fast, and easy-to-use benchmarks has increased. In this work, we present the first learning-based environment for boundary control of PDEs. In our benchmark, we introduce three foundational PDE problems - a 1D transport PDE, a 1D reaction-diffusion PDE, and a 2D Navier-Stokes PDE - whose solvers are bundled in an user-friendly reinforcement learning gym. With this gym, we then present the first set of model-free, reinforcement learning algorithms for solving this series of benchmark problems, achieving stability, although at a higher cost compared to model-based PDE backstepping. With the set of benchmark environments and detailed examples, this work significantly lowers the barrier to entry for learning-based PDE control - a topic largely unexplored by the data-driven control community. The entire benchmark is available on Github along with detailed documentation and the presented reinforcement learning models are open sourced.
Preparing for Black Swans: The Antifragility Imperative for Machine Learning
Authors: Ming Jin
Date: 2024-05-18 00:00:00
Tasks: Continual Learning, Decision Making, Diversity, Learning Theory, Meta-Learning, Safe Exploration

Operating safely and reliably despite continual distribution shifts is vital for high-stakes machine learning applications. This paper builds upon the transformative concept of ``antifragility'' introduced by (Taleb, 2014) as a constructive design paradigm to not just withstand but benefit from volatility. We formally define antifragility in the context of online decision making as dynamic regret's strictly concave response to environmental variability, revealing limitations of current approaches focused on resisting rather than benefiting from nonstationarity. Our contribution lies in proposing potential computational pathways for engineering antifragility, grounding the concept in online learning theory and drawing connections to recent advancements in areas such as meta-learning, safe exploration, continual learning, multi-objective/quality-diversity optimization, and foundation models. By identifying promising mechanisms and future research directions, we aim to put antifragility on a rigorous theoretical foundation in machine learning. We further emphasize the need for clear guidelines, risk assessment frameworks, and interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure responsible application.
Meta-Control: Automatic Model-based Control Synthesis for Heterogeneous Robot Skills
Authors: Tianhao Wei, Liqian Ma, Rui Chen, WeiYe Zhao, Changliu Liu
Date: 2024-05-18 00:00:00
Tasks: Collision Avoidance, Common Sense Reasoning

The requirements for real-world manipulation tasks are diverse and often conflicting; some tasks require precise motion while others require force compliance; some tasks require avoidance of certain regions, while others require convergence to certain states. Satisfying these varied requirements with a fixed state-action representation and control strategy is challenging, impeding the development of a universal robotic foundation model. In this work, we propose Meta-Control, the first LLM-enabled automatic control synthesis approach that creates customized state representations and control strategies tailored to specific tasks. Our core insight is that a meta-control system can be built to automate the thought process that human experts use to design control systems. Specifically, human experts heavily use a model-based, hierarchical (from abstract to concrete) thought model, then compose various dynamic models and controllers together to form a control system. Meta-Control mimics the thought model and harnesses LLM's extensive control knowledge with Socrates' "art of midwifery" to automate the thought process. Meta-Control stands out for its fully model-based nature, allowing rigorous analysis, generalizability, robustness, efficient parameter tuning, and reliable real-time execution.
Cooperative Multi-agent Approach for Automated Computer Game Testing
Authors: Samira Shirzadeh-hajimahmood, I. S. W. B. Prasteya, Mehdi Dastani, Frank Dignum
Date: 2024-05-18 00:00:00

Automated testing of computer games is a challenging problem, especially when lengthy scenarios have to be tested. Automating such a scenario boils down to finding the right sequence of interactions given an abstract description of the scenario. Recent works have shown that an agent-based approach works well for the purpose, e.g. due to agents' reactivity, hence enabling a test agent to immediately react to game events and changing state. Many games nowadays are multi-player. This opens up an interesting possibility to deploy multiple cooperative test agents to test such a game, for example to speed up the execution of multiple testing tasks. This paper offers a cooperative multi-agent testing approach and a study of its performance based on a case study on a 3D game called Lab Recruits.
Decision support system for Forest fire management using Ontology with Big Data and LLMs
Authors: Ritesh Chandra, Shashi Shekhar Kumar, Rushil Patra, Sonali Agarwal
Date: 2024-05-18 00:00:00
Tasks: Fire Detection, Management

Forests are crucial for ecological balance, but wildfires, a major cause of forest loss, pose significant risks. Fire weather indices, which assess wildfire risk and predict resource demands, are vital. With the rise of sensor networks in fields like healthcare and environmental monitoring, semantic sensor networks are increasingly used to gather climatic data such as wind speed, temperature, and humidity. However, processing these data streams to determine fire weather indices presents challenges, underscoring the growing importance of effective forest fire detection. This paper discusses using Apache Spark for early forest fire detection, enhancing fire risk prediction with meteorological and geographical data. Building on our previous development of Semantic Sensor Network (SSN) ontologies and Semantic Web Rules Language (SWRL) for managing forest fires in Monesterial Natural Park, we expanded SWRL to improve a Decision Support System (DSS) using a Large Language Models (LLMs) and Spark framework. We implemented real-time alerts with Spark streaming, tailored to various fire scenarios, and validated our approach using ontology metrics, query-based evaluations, LLMs score precision, F1 score, and recall measures.
City-Scale Multi-Camera Vehicle Tracking System with Improved Self-Supervised Camera Link Model
Authors: Yuqiang Lin, Sam Lockyer, Adrian Evans, Markus Zarbock, Nic Zhang
Date: 2024-05-18 00:00:00

Multi-Target Multi-Camera Tracking (MTMCT) has broad applications and forms the basis for numerous future city-wide systems (e.g. traffic management, crash detection, etc.). However, the challenge of matching vehicle trajectories across different cameras based solely on feature extraction poses significant difficulties. This article introduces an innovative multi-camera vehicle tracking system that utilizes a self-supervised camera link model. In contrast to related works that rely on manual spatial-temporal annotations, our model automatically extracts crucial multi-camera relationships for vehicle matching. The camera link is established through a pre-matching process that evaluates feature similarities, pair numbers, and time variance for high-quality tracks. This process calculates the probability of spatial linkage for all camera combinations, selecting the highest scoring pairs to create camera links. Our approach significantly improves deployment times by eliminating the need for human annotation, offering substantial improvements in efficiency and cost-effectiveness when it comes to real-world application. This pairing process supports cross camera matching by setting spatial-temporal constraints, reducing the searching space for potential vehicle matches. According to our experimental results, the proposed method achieves a new state-of-the-art among automatic camera-link based methods in CityFlow V2 benchmarks with 61.07% IDF1 Score.
LiPost: Improved Content Understanding With Effective Use of Multi-task Contrastive Learning
Authors: Akanksha Bindal, Sudarshan Ramanujam, Dave Golland, TJ Hazen, Tina Jiang, Fengyu Zhang, Peng Yan
Date: 2024-05-18 00:00:00
Tasks: Contrastive Learning, Multi-Task Learning, Zero-Shot Learning

In enhancing LinkedIn core content recommendation models, a significant challenge lies in improving their semantic understanding capabilities. This paper addresses the problem by leveraging multi-task learning, a method that has shown promise in various domains. We fine-tune a pre-trained, transformer-based LLM using multi-task contrastive learning with data from a diverse set of semantic labeling tasks. We observe positive transfer, leading to superior performance across all tasks when compared to training independently on each. Our model outperforms the baseline on zero shot learning and offers improved multilingual support, highlighting its potential for broader application. The specialized content embeddings produced by our model outperform generalized embeddings offered by OpenAI on Linkedin dataset and tasks. This work provides a robust foundation for vertical teams across LinkedIn to customize and fine-tune the LLM to their specific applications. Our work offers insights and best practices for the field to build on.