Predicting the extent of massive wildfires once ignited is essential to reduce the subsequent socioeconomic losses and environmental damage, but challenging because of the complexity of fire behaviour. Existing physics-based models are limited in predicting large or long-duration wildfire events. Here, we develop a deep-learning-based predictive model, Fire-Image-DenseNet (FIDN), that uses spatial features derived from both near real-time and reanalysis data on the environmental and meteorological drivers of wildfire. We trained and tested this model using more than 300 individual wildfires that occurred between 2012 and 2019 in the western US. In contrast to existing models, the performance of FIDN does not degrade with fire size or duration. Furthermore, it predicts final burnt area accurately even in very heterogeneous landscapes in terms of fuel density and flammability. The FIDN model showed higher accuracy, with a mean squared error (MSE) about 82% and 67% lower than those of the predictive models based on cellular automata (CA) and the minimum travel time (MTT) approaches, respectively. Its structural similarity index measure (SSIM) averages 97%, outperforming the CA and FlamMap MTT models by 6% and 2%, respectively. Additionally, FIDN is approximately three orders of magnitude faster than both CA and MTT models. The enhanced computational efficiency and accuracy advancements offer vital insights for strategic planning and resource allocation for firefighting operations.

In many settings, machine learning models may be used to inform decisions that impact individuals or entities who interact with the model. Such entities, or agents, may game model decisions by manipulating their inputs to the model to obtain better outcomes and maximize some utility. We consider a multi-agent setting where the goal is to identify the "worst offenders:" agents that are gaming most aggressively. However, identifying such agents is difficult without knowledge of their utility function. Thus, we introduce a framework in which each agent's tendency to game is parameterized via a scalar. We show that this gaming parameter is only partially identifiable. By recasting the problem as a causal effect estimation problem where different agents represent different "treatments," we prove that a ranking of all agents by their gaming parameters is identifiable. We present empirical results in a synthetic data study validating the usage of causal effect estimation for gaming detection and show in a case study of diagnosis coding behavior in the U.S. that our approach highlights features associated with gaming.

Sign Language Processing (SLP) is an interdisciplinary field comprised of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Computer Vision. It is focused on the computational understanding, translation, and production of signed languages. Traditional approaches have often been constrained by the use of gloss-based systems that are both language-specific and inadequate for capturing the multidimensional nature of sign language. These limitations have hindered the development of technology capable of processing signed languages effectively. This thesis aims to revolutionize the field of SLP by proposing a simple paradigm that can bridge this existing technological gap. We propose the use of SignWiring, a universal sign language transcription notation system, to serve as an intermediary link between the visual-gestural modality of signed languages and text-based linguistic representations. We contribute foundational libraries and resources to the SLP community, thereby setting the stage for a more in-depth exploration of the tasks of sign language translation and production. These tasks encompass the translation of sign language from video to spoken language text and vice versa. Through empirical evaluations, we establish the efficacy of our transcription method as a pivot for enabling faster, more targeted research, that can lead to more natural and accurate translations across a range of languages. The universal nature of our transcription-based paradigm also paves the way for real-time, multilingual applications in SLP, thereby offering a more inclusive and accessible approach to language technology. This is a significant step toward universal accessibility, enabling a wider reach of AI-driven language technologies to include the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

The use of Large Language Models (LLMs) has increased significantly recently, with individuals frequently interacting with chatbots to receive answers to a wide range of questions. In an era where information is readily accessible, it is crucial to stimulate and preserve human cognitive abilities and maintain strong reasoning skills. This paper addresses such challenges by promoting the use of hints as an alternative or a supplement to direct answers. We first introduce a manually constructed hint dataset, WIKIHINT, which includes 5,000 hints created for 1,000 questions. We then finetune open-source LLMs such as LLaMA-3.1 for hint generation in answer-aware and answer-agnostic contexts. We assess the effectiveness of the hints with human participants who try to answer questions with and without the aid of hints. Additionally, we introduce a lightweight evaluation method, HINTRANK, to evaluate and rank hints in both answer-aware and answer-agnostic settings. Our findings show that (a) the dataset helps generate more effective hints, (b) including answer information along with questions generally improves hint quality, and (c) encoder-based models perform better than decoder-based models in hint ranking.

Unequal access to costly datasets essential for empirical research has long hindered researchers from disadvantaged institutions, limiting their ability to contribute to their fields and advance their careers. Recent breakthroughs in Large Language Models (LLMs) have the potential to democratize data access by automating data collection from unstructured sources. We develop and evaluate a novel methodology using GPT-4o-mini within a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) framework to collect data from corporate disclosures. Our approach achieves human-level accuracy in collecting CEO pay ratios from approximately 10,000 proxy statements and Critical Audit Matters (CAMs) from more than 12,000 10-K filings, with LLM processing times of 9 and 40 minutes respectively, each at a cost under $10. This stands in stark contrast to the hundreds of hours needed for manual collection or the thousands of dollars required for commercial database subscriptions. To foster a more inclusive research community by empowering researchers with limited resources to explore new avenues of inquiry, we share our methodology and the resulting datasets.

Existing multilingual neural machine translation (MNMT) approaches mainly focus on improving models with the encoder-decoder architecture to translate multiple languages. However, decoder-only architecture has been explored less in MNMT due to its underperformance when trained on parallel data solely. In this work, we attribute the issue of the decoder-only architecture to its lack of language transfer capability. Specifically, the decoder-only architecture is insufficient in encoding source tokens with the target language features. We propose dividing the decoding process into two stages so that target tokens are explicitly excluded in the first stage to implicitly boost the transfer capability across languages. Additionally, we impose contrastive learning on translation instructions, resulting in improved performance in zero-shot translation. We conduct experiments on TED-19 and OPUS-100 datasets, considering both training from scratch and fine-tuning scenarios. Experimental results show that, compared to the encoder-decoder architecture, our methods not only perform competitively in supervised translations but also achieve improvements of up to 3.39 BLEU, 6.99 chrF++, 3.22 BERTScore, and 4.81 COMET in zero-shot translations.

Language-guided robotic grasping is a rapidly advancing field where robots are instructed using human language to grasp specific objects. However, existing methods often depend on dense camera views and struggle to quickly update scenes, limiting their effectiveness in changeable environments. In contrast, we propose SparseGrasp, a novel open-vocabulary robotic grasping system that operates efficiently with sparse-view RGB images and handles scene updates fastly. Our system builds upon and significantly enhances existing computer vision modules in robotic learning. Specifically, SparseGrasp utilizes DUSt3R to generate a dense point cloud as the initialization for 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS), maintaining high fidelity even under sparse supervision. Importantly, SparseGrasp incorporates semantic awareness from recent vision foundation models. To further improve processing efficiency, we repurpose Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to compress features from 2D models. Additionally, we introduce a novel render-and-compare strategy that ensures rapid scene updates, enabling multi-turn grasping in changeable environments. Experimental results show that SparseGrasp significantly outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of both speed and adaptability, providing a robust solution for multi-turn grasping in changeable environment.

Hypergraphs extend traditional graphs by allowing edges to connect multiple nodes, while superhypergraphs further generalize this concept to represent even more complex relationships. Neural networks, inspired by biological systems, are widely used for tasks such as pattern recognition, data classification, and prediction. Graph Neural Networks (GNNs), a well-established framework, have recently been extended to Hypergraph Neural Networks (HGNNs), with their properties and applications being actively studied. The Plithogenic Graph framework enhances graph representations by integrating multi-valued attributes, as well as membership and contradiction functions, enabling the detailed modeling of complex relationships. In the context of handling uncertainty, concepts such as Fuzzy Graphs and Neutrosophic Graphs have gained prominence. It is well established that Plithogenic Graphs serve as a generalization of both Fuzzy Graphs and Neutrosophic Graphs. Furthermore, the Fuzzy Graph Neural Network has been proposed and is an active area of research. This paper establishes the theoretical foundation for the development of SuperHyperGraph Neural Networks (SHGNNs) and Plithogenic Graph Neural Networks, expanding the applicability of neural networks to these advanced graph structures. While mathematical generalizations and proofs are presented, future computational experiments are anticipated.

In hybrid transactional and analytical processing (HTAP) systems, users often struggle to understand why query plans from one engine (OLAP or OLTP) perform significantly slower than those from another. Although optimizers provide plan details via the EXPLAIN function, these explanations are frequently too technical for non-experts and offer limited insights into performance differences across engines. To address this, we propose a novel framework that leverages large language models (LLMs) to explain query performance in HTAP systems. Built on Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), our framework constructs a knowledge base that stores historical query executions and expert-curated explanations. To enable efficient retrieval of relevant knowledge, query plans are embedded using a lightweight tree-CNN classifier. This augmentation allows the LLM to generate clear, context-aware explanations of performance differences between engines. Our approach demonstrates the potential of LLMs in hybrid engine systems, paving the way for further advancements in database optimization and user support.

Free associations have been extensively used in cognitive psychology and linguistics for studying how conceptual knowledge is organized. Recently, the potential of applying a similar approach for investigating the knowledge encoded in LLMs has emerged, specifically as a method for investigating LLM biases. However, the absence of large-scale LLM-generated free association norms that are comparable with human-generated norms is an obstacle to this new research direction. To address this limitation, we create a new dataset of LLM-generated free association norms modeled after the "Small World of Words" (SWOW) human-generated norms consisting of approximately 12,000 cue words. We prompt three LLMs, namely Mistral, Llama3, and Haiku, with the same cues as those in the SWOW norms to generate three novel comparable datasets, the "LLM World of Words" (LWOW). Using both SWOW and LWOW norms, we construct cognitive network models of semantic memory that represent the conceptual knowledge possessed by humans and LLMs. We demonstrate how these datasets can be used for investigating implicit biases in humans and LLMs, such as the harmful gender stereotypes that are prevalent both in society and LLM outputs.