South America
Manifold Topological Deep Learning for Biomedical Data
Liu, Xiang, Su, Zhe, Shi, Yongyi, Tong, Yiying, Wang, Ge, Wei, Guo-Wei
Recently, topological deep learning (TDL), which integrates algebraic topology with deep neural networks, has achieved tremendous success in processing point-cloud data, emerging as a promising paradigm in data science. However, TDL has not been developed for data on differentiable manifolds, including images, due to the challenges posed by differential topology. We address this challenge by introducing manifold topological deep learning (MTDL) for the first time. To highlight the power of Hodge theory rooted in differential topology, we consider a simple convolutional neural network (CNN) in MTDL. In this novel framework, original images are represented as smooth manifolds with vector fields that are decomposed into three orthogonal components based on Hodge theory. These components are then concatenated to form an input image for the CNN architecture. The performance of MTDL is evaluated using the MedMNIST v2 benchmark database, which comprises 717,287 biomedical images from eleven 2D and six 3D datasets. MTDL significantly outperforms other competing methods, extending TDL to a wide range of data on smooth manifolds.
EXACT-CT: EXplainable Analysis for Crohn's and Tuberculosis using CT
Gupta, Shashwat, Gupta, Sarthak, Agrawal, Akshan, Naaz, Mahim, Yadav, Rajanikanth, Bagade, Priyanka
Crohn's disease and intestinal tuberculosis share many overlapping features such as clinical, radiological, endoscopic, and histological features - particularly granulomas, making it challenging to clinically differentiate them. Our research leverages 3D CTE scans, computer vision, and machine learning to improve this differentiation to avoid harmful treatment mismanagement such as unnecessary anti-tuberculosis therapy for Crohn's disease or exacerbation of tuberculosis with immunosuppressants. Our study proposes a novel method to identify radiologist - identified biomarkers such as VF to SF ratio, necrosis, calcifications, comb sign and pulmonary TB to enhance accuracy. We demonstrate the effectiveness by using different ML techniques on the features extracted from these biomarkers, computing SHAP on XGBoost for understanding feature importance towards predictions, and comparing against SOTA methods such as pretrained ResNet and CTFoundation.
Learner and Instructor Needs in AI-Supported Programming Learning Tools: Design Implications for Features and Adaptive Control
Wu, Zihan, Tang, Yicheng, Ericson, Barbara
AI-supported tools can help learners overcome challenges in programming education by providing adaptive assistance. However, existing research often focuses on individual tools rather than deriving broader design recommendations. A key challenge in designing these systems is balancing learner control with system-driven guidance. To explore user preferences for AI-supported programming learning tools, we conducted a participatory design study with 15 undergraduate novice programmers and 10 instructors to gather insights on their desired help features and control preferences, as well as a follow-up survey with 172 introductory programming students. Our qualitative findings show that learners prefer help that is encouraging, incorporates visual aids, and includes peer-related insights, whereas instructors prioritize scaffolding that reflects learners' progress and reinforces best practices. Both groups favor shared control, though learners generally prefer more autonomy, while instructors lean toward greater system guidance to prevent cognitive overload. Additionally, our interviews revealed individual differences in control preferences. Based on our findings, we propose design guidelines for AI-supported programming tools, particularly regarding user-centered help features and adaptive control mechanisms. Our work contributes to the human-centered design of AI-supported learning environments by informing the development of systems that effectively balance autonomy and guidance, enhancing AI-supported educational tools for programming and beyond.
RecCrysFormer: Refined Protein Structural Prediction from 3D Patterson Maps via Recycling Training Runs
Pan, Tom, Dramko, Evan, Miller, Mitchell D., Phillips, George N. Jr., Kyrillidis, Anastasios
Determining protein structures at an atomic level remains a significant challenge in structural biology. We introduce $\texttt{RecCrysFormer}$, a hybrid model that exploits the strengths of transformers with the aim of integrating experimental and ML approaches to protein structure determination from crystallographic data. $\texttt{RecCrysFormer}$ leverages Patterson maps and incorporates known standardized partial structures of amino acid residues to directly predict electron density maps, which are essential for constructing detailed atomic models through crystallographic refinement processes. $\texttt{RecCrysFormer}$ benefits from a ``recycling'' training regimen that iteratively incorporates results from crystallographic refinements and previous training runs as additional inputs in the form of template maps. Using a preliminary dataset of synthetic peptide fragments based on Protein Data Bank, $\texttt{RecCrysFormer}$ achieves good accuracy in structural predictions and shows robustness against variations in crystal parameters, such as unit cell dimensions and angles.
Rethinking LLM Bias Probing Using Lessons from the Social Sciences
Morehouse, Kirsten N., Swaroop, Siddharth, Pan, Weiwei
The proliferation of LLM bias probes introduces three significant challenges: (1) we lack principled criteria for choosing appropriate probes, (2) we lack a system for reconciling conflicting results across probes, and (3) we lack formal frameworks for reasoning about when (and why) probe results will generalize to real user behavior. We address these challenges by systematizing LLM social bias probing using actionable insights from social sciences. We then introduce EcoLevels - a framework that helps (a) determine appropriate bias probes, (b) reconcile conflicting findings across probes, and (c) generate predictions about bias generalization. Overall, we ground our analysis in social science research because many LLM probes are direct applications of human probes, and these fields have faced similar challenges when studying social bias in humans. Based on our work, we suggest how the next generation of LLM bias probing can (and should) benefit from decades of social science research.
Experiences with Content Development and Assessment Design in the Era of GenAI
Sharma, Aakanksha, Shailendra, Samar, Kadel, Rajan
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has the potential to transform higher education by generating human-like content. The advancement in GenAI has revolutionised several aspects of education, especially subject and assessment design. In this era, it is crucial to design assessments that challenge students and cannot be solved using GenAI tools. This makes it necessary to update the educational content with rapidly evolving technology. The assessment plays a significant role in ensuring the students learning, as it encourages students to engage actively, leading to the achievement of learning outcomes. The paper intends to determine how effectively GenAI can design a subject, including lectures, labs and assessments, using prompts and custom-based training. This paper aims to elucidate the direction to educators so they can leverage GenAI to create subject content. Additionally, we provided our experiential learning for educators to develop content, highlighting the importance of prompts and fine-tuning to ensure output quality. It has also been observed that expert evaluation is essential for assessing the quality of GenAI-generated materials throughout the content generation process.
Persuasion Should be Double-Blind: A Multi-Domain Dialogue Dataset With Faithfulness Based on Causal Theory of Mind
Persuasive dialogue plays a pivotal role in human communication, influencing various domains. Recent persuasive dialogue datasets often fail to align with real-world interpersonal interactions, leading to unfaithful representations. For instance, unrealistic scenarios may arise, such as when the persuadee explicitly instructs the persuader on which persuasion strategies to employ, with each of the persuadee's questions corresponding to a specific strategy for the persuader to follow. This issue can be attributed to a violation of the "Double Blind" condition, where critical information is fully shared between participants. In actual human interactions, however, key information such as the mental state of the persuadee and the persuasion strategies of the persuader is not directly accessible. The persuader must infer the persuadee's mental state using Theory of Mind capabilities and construct arguments that align with the persuadee's motivations. To address this gap, we introduce ToMMA, a novel multi-agent framework for dialogue generation that is guided by causal Theory of Mind. This framework ensures that information remains undisclosed between agents, preserving "double-blind" conditions, while causal ToM directs the persuader's reasoning, enhancing alignment with human-like persuasion dynamics. Consequently, we present CToMPersu, a multi-domain, multi-turn persuasive dialogue dataset that tackles both double-blind and logical coherence issues, demonstrating superior performance across multiple metrics and achieving better alignment with real human dialogues. Our dataset and prompts are available at https://github.com/DingyiZhang/ToMMA-CToMPersu .
Transforming Tuberculosis Care: Optimizing Large Language Models For Enhanced Clinician-Patient Communication
Filienko, Daniil, Nizar, Mahek, Roberti, Javier, Galdamez, Denise, Jakher, Haroon, Iribarren, Sarah, Yuwen, Weichao, De Cock, Martine
Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death from an infectious disease globally, with the highest burden in low- and middle-income countries. In these regions, limited healthcare access and high patient-to-provider ratios impede effective patient support, communication, and treatment completion. To bridge this gap, we propose integrating a specialized Large Language Model into an efficacious digital adherence technology to augment interactive communication with treatment supporters. This AI-powered approach, operating within a human-in-the-loop framework, aims to enhance patient engagement and improve TB treatment outcomes.
Re-evaluating Theory of Mind evaluation in large language models
Hu, Jennifer, Sosa, Felix, Ullman, Tomer
The question of whether large language models (LLMs) possess Theory of Mind (ToM) -- often defined as the ability to reason about others' mental states -- has sparked significant scientific and public interest. However, the evidence as to whether LLMs possess ToM is mixed, and the recent growth in evaluations has not resulted in a convergence. Here, we take inspiration from cognitive science to re-evaluate the state of ToM evaluation in LLMs. We argue that a major reason for the disagreement on whether LLMs have ToM is a lack of clarity on whether models should be expected to match human behaviors, or the computations underlying those behaviors. We also highlight ways in which current evaluations may be deviating from "pure" measurements of ToM abilities, which also contributes to the confusion. We conclude by discussing several directions for future research, including the relationship between ToM and pragmatic communication, which could advance our understanding of artificial systems as well as human cognition.
Capability Localization: Capabilities Can be Localized rather than Individual Knowledge
Huang, Xiusheng, Liu, Jiaxiang, Wang, Yequan, Zhao, Jun, Liu, Kang
Published as a conference paper at ICLR 2025C APABILITYL OCALIZATION: C APABILITIES C AN BE L OCALIZED RATHER THAN I NDIVIDUALK NOWLEDGE Xiusheng Huang 1,2,3, Jiaxiang Liu 1,2, Y equan Wang 3, Jun Zhao 1,2 and Kang Liu 1,2 1 The Key Laboratory of Cognition and Decision Intelligence for Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences 2 School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences 3 Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing, China huangxiusheng2020@ia.ac.cn, liujiaxiang21@mails.ucas.ac.cn, tshwangyequan@gmail.com, { jzhao,kliu }@nlpr.ia.ac.cn We found through fidelity and reliability evaluation experiments that individual knowledge cannot be localized. Afterwards, we constructed a dataset for decou-pling experiments and discovered the potential for localizing data commonalities. More and more research is focusing on the security (Bonaldi et al., 2024; Sun et al., 2024), ethics (Y an et al., 2024; Specifically, KN (Dai et al., 2021) believes that individual knowledge ROME (Meng et al., 2022a) believes that individual knowledge is stored on the Previous knowledge localization methods have proposed corresponding validation methods, reliability experiments will evaluate the reliability of these methods. In addition, the entire parameters chain occupies 2.6% of the overall model To further reveal the form of knowledge storage, we designed 1000 comparative samples and conducted decoupling experiments.