Northern Region
Enhancing AI and Dynamical Subseasonal Forecasts with Probabilistic Bias Correction
Guan, Hannah, Mouatadid, Soukayna, Orenstein, Paulo, Cohen, Judah, Dong, Haiyu, Ni, Zekun, Berman, Jeremy, Flaspohler, Genevieve, Lu, Alex, Schloer, Jakob, Talib, Joshua, Weyn, Jonathan A., Mackey, Lester
Decision-makers rely on weather forecasts to plant crops, manage wildfires, allocate water and energy, and prepare for weather extremes. Today, such forecasts enjoy unprecedented accuracy out to two weeks thanks to steady advances in physics-based dynamical models and data-driven artificial intelligence (AI) models. However, model skill drops precipitously at subseasonal timescales (2 - 6 weeks ahead), due to compounding errors and persistent biases. To counter this degradation, we introduce probabilistic bias correction (PBC), a machine learning framework that substantially reduces systematic error by learning to correct historical probabilistic forecasts. When applied to the leading dynamical and AI models from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), PBC doubles the subseasonal skill of the AI Forecasting System and improves the skill of the operationally-debiased dynamical model for 91% of pressure, 92% of temperature, and 98% of precipitation targets. We designed PBC for operational deployment, and, in ECMWF's 2025 real-time forecasting competition, its global forecasts placed first for all weather variables and lead times, outperforming the dynamical models from six operational forecasting centers, an international dynamical multi-model ensemble, ECMWF's AI Forecasting System, and the forecasting systems of 34 teams worldwide. These probabilistic skill gains translate into more accurate prediction of extreme events and have the potential to improve agricultural planning, energy management, and disaster preparedness in vulnerable communities.
Tight Convergence Rates for Online Distributed Linear Estimation with Adversarial Measurements
Roy, Nibedita, Halder, Vishal, Thoppe, Gugan, Reiffers-Masson, Alexandre, Dhanakshirur, Mihir, Naman, null, Azor, Alexandre
We study mean estimation of a random vector $X$ in a distributed parameter-server-worker setup. Worker $i$ observes samples of $a_i^\top X$, where $a_i^\top$ is the $i$th row of a known sensing matrix $A$. The key challenges are adversarial measurements and asynchrony: a fixed subset of workers may transmit corrupted measurements, and workers are activated asynchronously--only one is active at any time. In our previous work, we proposed a two-timescale $\ell_1$-minimization algorithm and established asymptotic recovery under a null-space-property-like condition on $A$. In this work, we establish tight non-asymptotic convergence rates under the same null-space-property-like condition. We also identify relaxed conditions on $A$ under which exact recovery may fail but recovery of a projected component of $\mathbb{E}[X]$ remains possible. Overall, our results provide a unified finite-time characterization of robustness, identifiability, and statistical efficiency in distributed linear estimation with adversarial workers, with implications for network tomography and related distributed sensing problems.
Domain Elastic Transform: Bayesian Function Registration for High-Dimensional Scientific Data
Hirose, Osamu, Rodola, Emanuele
Nonrigid registration is conventionally divided into point set registration, which aligns sparse geometries, and image registration, which aligns continuous intensity fields on regular grids. However, this dichotomy creates a critical bottleneck for emerging scientific data, such as spatial transcriptomics, where high-dimensional vector-valued functions, e.g., gene expression, are defined on irregular, sparse manifolds. Consequently, researchers currently face a forced choice: either sacrifice single-cell resolution via voxelization to utilize image-based tools, or ignore the critical functional signal to utilize geometric tools. To resolve this dilemma, we propose Domain Elastic Transform (DET), a grid-free probabilistic framework that unifies geometric and functional alignment. By treating data as functions on irregular domains, DET registers high-dimensional signals directly without binning. We formulate the problem within a rigorous Bayesian framework, modeling domain deformation as an elastic motion guided by a joint spatial-functional likelihood. The method is fully unsupervised and scalable, utilizing feature-sensitive downsampling to handle massive atlases. We demonstrate that DET achieves 92\% topological preservation on MERFISH data where state-of-the-art optimal transport methods struggle ($<$5\%), and successfully registers whole-embryo Stereo-seq atlases across developmental stages -- a task involving massive scale and complex nonrigid growth. The implementation of DET is available on {https://github.com/ohirose/bcpd} (since Mar, 2025).
STARK denoises spatial transcriptomics images via adaptive regularization
Kubal, Sharvaj, Graham, Naomi, Heitz, Matthieu, Warren, Andrew, Friedlander, Michael P., Plan, Yaniv, Schiebinger, Geoffrey
We present an approach to denoising spatial transcriptomics images that is particularly effective for uncovering cell identities in the regime of ultra-low sequencing depths, and also allows for interpolation of gene expression. The method -- Spatial Transcriptomics via Adaptive Regularization and Kernels (STARK) -- augments kernel ridge regression with an incrementally adaptive graph Laplacian regularizer. In each iteration, we (1) perform kernel ridge regression with a fixed graph to update the image, and (2) update the graph based on the new image. The kernel ridge regression step involves reducing the infinite dimensional problem on a space of images to finite dimensions via a modified representer theorem. Starting with a purely spatial graph, and updating it as we improve our image makes the graph more robust to noise in low sequencing depth regimes. We show that the aforementioned approach optimizes a block-convex objective through an alternating minimization scheme wherein the sub-problems have closed form expressions that are easily computed. This perspective allows us to prove convergence of the iterates to a stationary point of this non-convex objective. Statistically, such stationary points converge to the ground truth with rate $\mathcal{O}(R^{-1/2})$ where $R$ is the number of reads. In numerical experiments on real spatial transcriptomics data, the denoising performance of STARK, evaluated in terms of label transfer accuracy, shows consistent improvement over the competing methods tested.
Co-Creative Learning via Metropolis-Hastings Interaction between Humans and AI
Okumura, Ryota, Taniguchi, Tadahiro, Taniguchi, Akira, Hagiwara, Yoshinobu
We propose co-creative learning as a novel paradigm where humans and AI, i.e., biological and artificial agents, mutually integrate their partial perceptual information and knowledge to construct shared external representations, a process we interpret as symbol emergence. Unlike traditional AI teaching based on unilateral knowledge transfer, this addresses the challenge of integrating information from inherently different modalities. We empirically test this framework using a human-AI interaction model based on the Metropolis-Hastings naming game (MHNG), a decentralized Bayesian inference mechanism. In an online experiment, 69 participants played a joint attention naming game (JA-NG) with one of three computer agent types (MH-based, always-accept, or always-reject) under partial observability. Results show that human-AI pairs with an MH-based agent significantly improved categorization accuracy through interaction and achieved stronger convergence toward a shared sign system. Furthermore, human acceptance behavior aligned closely with the MH-derived acceptance probability. These findings provide the first empirical evidence for co-creative learning emerging in human-AI dyads via MHNG-based interaction. This suggests a promising path toward symbiotic AI systems that learn with humans, rather than from them, by dynamically aligning perceptual experiences, opening a new venue for symbiotic AI alignment.
A Game-Theoretic Negotiation Framework for Cross-Cultural Consensus in LLMs
Zhang, Guoxi, Chen, Jiawei, Yang, Tianzhuo, Ji, Jiaming, Yang, Yaodong, Dai, Juntao
The increasing prevalence of large language models (LLMs) is influencing global value systems. However, these models frequently exhibit a pronounced WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) cultural bias due to lack of attention to minority values. This monocultural perspective may reinforce dominant values and marginalize diverse cultural viewpoints, posing challenges for the development of equitable and inclusive AI systems. In this work, we introduce a systematic framework designed to boost fair and robust cross-cultural consensus among LLMs. We model consensus as a Nash Equilibrium and employ a game-theoretic negotiation method based on Policy-Space Response Oracles (PSRO) to simulate an organized cross-cultural negotiation process. To evaluate this approach, we construct regional cultural agents using data transformed from the World Values Survey (WVS). Beyond the conventional model-level evaluation method, We further propose two quantitative metrics, Perplexity-based Acceptence and Values Self-Consistency, to assess consensus outcomes. Experimental results indicate that our approach generates consensus of higher quality while ensuring more balanced compromise compared to baselines. Overall, it mitigates WEIRD bias by guiding agents toward convergence through fair and gradual negotiation steps.
New AI test can predict which men will benefit from prostate cancer drug
Doctors have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can predict which men with prostate cancer will benefit from a drug that halves the risk of dying. Abiraterone has been described as a "gamechanger" treatment for the disease, which is the most common form of cancer in men in more than 100 countries. It has already helped hundreds of thousands with advanced prostate cancer to live longer. But some countries, including England, have stopped short of offering the "spectacular" drug more widely to men whose disease has not spread. Now a team from the US, UK and Switzerland have built an AI test that shows which men would most likely benefit from abiraterone. The "exciting" breakthrough will enable healthcare systems to roll out the drug to more men, and spare others unnecessary treatment.
A Computational Model of Inclusive Pedagogy: From Understanding to Application
Balzan, Francesco, Santos, Pedro P., Gabbrielli, Maurizio, Albarracin, Mahault, Lopes, Manuel
Human education transcends mere knowledge transfer, it relies on co-adaptation dynamics -- the mutual adjustment of teaching and learning strategies between agents. Despite its centrality, computational models of co-adaptive teacher-student interactions (T-SI) remain underdeveloped. We argue that this gap impedes Educational Science in testing and scaling contextual insights across diverse settings, and limits the potential of Machine Learning systems, which struggle to emulate and adaptively support human learning processes. To address this, we present a computational T-SI model that integrates contextual insights on human education into a testable framework. We use the model to evaluate diverse T-SI strategies in a realistic synthetic classroom setting, simulating student groups with unequal access to sensory information. Results show that strategies incorporating co-adaptation principles (e.g., bidirectional agency) outperform unilateral approaches (i.e., where only the teacher or the student is active), improving the learning outcomes for all learning types. Beyond the testing and scaling of context-dependent educational insights, our model enables hypothesis generation in controlled yet adaptable environments. This work bridges non-computational theories of human education with scalable, inclusive AI in Education systems, providing a foundation for equitable technologies that dynamically adapt to learner needs.