Instructional Material
Neural Abstractions
Abate, Alessandro, Edwards, Alec, Giacobbe, Mirco
We present a novel method for the safety verification of nonlinear dynamical models that uses neural networks to represent abstractions of their dynamics. Neural networks have extensively been used before as approximators; in this work, we make a step further and use them for the first time as abstractions. For a given dynamical model, our method synthesises a neural network that overapproximates its dynamics by ensuring an arbitrarily tight, formally certified bound on the approximation error. For this purpose, we employ a counterexample-guided inductive synthesis procedure. We show that this produces a neural ODE with non-deterministic disturbances that constitutes a formal abstraction of the concrete model under analysis. This guarantees a fundamental property: if the abstract model is safe, i.e., free from any initialised trajectory that reaches an undesirable state, then the concrete model is also safe. By using neural ODEs with ReLU activation functions as abstractions, we cast the safety verification problem for nonlinear dynamical models into that of hybrid automata with affine dynamics, which we verify using SpaceEx. We demonstrate that our approach performs comparably to the mature tool Flow* on existing benchmark nonlinear models. We additionally demonstrate and that it is effective on models that do not exhibit local Lipschitz continuity, which are out of reach to the existing technologies.
Existing EdTech That You Didn't Know You Needed - Pikmykid
EdTech, or Educational Technology, refers to the use of technology to support and enhance teaching and learning. It can be a useful tool for educators by assisting to engage students, personalize learning, keep them safe and improve student outcomes. When it comes to the instructional methods and tools we use in our classrooms, there are several goals that educators may have in mind when selecting them. Therefore, knowing the types of technology available and the benefits of each is important. There are a variety of tools that have features promoting accessibility.
Multi-modal deep learning in less than 15 lines of code - KDnuggets
For many machine learning use-cases, organizations rely solely on tabular data and tree-based models like XGBoost and LightGBM. This is because deep learning is simply too hard for most ML teams. As a result, teams miss out on valuable signals hidden within unstructured data like text and images. New declarative machine learning systems--like open-source Ludwig started at Uber--provide a low-code approach to automating ML that enables data teams to build and deploy state-of-the-art models faster with a simple configuration file. Specifically, Predibase--the leading low-code declarative ML platform--along Ludwig make it easy to build multi-modal deep learning models in 15 lines of code.
DCU to provide new machine learning module for undergrads
The machine learning module was compiled by researchers at the Insight centre for data analytics and the DCU computer science faculty. Students at Dublin City University (DCU) will soon be able to avail of a new module that provides an introduction to machine learning. The module will be provided to undergraduate computer science students. They will be able to learn the basics, as well as get an insight into how different industries and professionals use machine learning. Machine learning is an AI application that enables systems to self-programme by recognising patterns in large data sets.
LAGAN: Deep Semi-Supervised Linguistic-Anthropology Classification with Conditional Generative Adversarial Neural Network
Kamal, Rossi, Kubincova, Zuzana
Education is a right of all, however, every individual is different than others. Teachers in post-communism era discover inherent individualism to equally train all towards job market of fourth industrial revolution. We can consider scenario of ethnic minority education in academic practices. Ethnic minority group has grown in their own culture and would prefer to be taught in their native way. We have formulated such linguistic anthropology(how people learn)based engagement as semi-supervised problem. Then, we have developed an conditional deep generative adversarial network algorithm namely LA-GAN to classify linguistic ethnographic features in student engagement. Theoretical justification proves the objective, regularization and loss function of our semi-supervised adversarial model. Survey questions are prepared to reach some form of assumptions about z-generation and ethnic minority group, whose learning style, learning approach and preference are our main area of interest.
Transition-Aware Multi-Activity Knowledge Tracing
Zhao, Siqian, Wang, Chunpai, Sahebi, Shaghayegh
Accurate modeling of student knowledge is essential for large-scale online learning systems that are increasingly used for student training. Knowledge tracing aims to model student knowledge state given the student's sequence of learning activities. Modern Knowledge tracing (KT) is usually formulated as a supervised sequence learning problem to predict students' future practice performance according to their past observed practice scores by summarizing student knowledge state as a set of evolving hidden variables. Because of this formulation, many current KT solutions are not fit for modeling student learning from non-assessed learning activities with no explicit feedback or score observation (e.g., watching video lectures that are not graded). Additionally, these models cannot explicitly represent the dynamics of knowledge transfer among different learning activities, particularly between the assessed (e.g., quizzes) and non-assessed (e.g., video lectures) learning activities. In this paper, we propose Transition-Aware Multi-activity Knowledge Tracing (TAMKOT), which models knowledge transfer between learning materials, in addition to student knowledge, when students transition between and within assessed and non-assessed learning materials. TAMKOT is formulated as a deep recurrent multi-activity learning model that explicitly learns knowledge transfer by activating and learning a set of knowledge transfer matrices, one for each transition type between student activities. Accordingly, our model allows for representing each material type in a different yet transferrable latent space while maintaining student knowledge in a shared space. We evaluate our model on three real-world publicly available datasets and demonstrate TAMKOT's capability in predicting student performance and modeling knowledge transfer.
Distributed Optimization Methods for Multi-Robot Systems: Part I -- A Tutorial
Shorinwa, Ola, Halsted, Trevor, Yu, Javier, Schwager, Mac
Distributed optimization provides a framework for deriving distributed algorithms for a variety of multi-robot problems. This tutorial constitutes the first part of a two-part series on distributed optimization applied to multi-robot problems, which seeks to advance the application of distributed optimization in robotics. In this tutorial, we demonstrate that many canonical multi-robot problems can be cast within the distributed optimization framework, such as multi-robot simultaneous localization and planning (SLAM), multi-robot target tracking, and multi-robot task assignment problems. We identify three broad categories of distributed optimization algorithms: distributed first-order methods, distributed sequential convex programming, and the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). We describe the basic structure of each category and provide representative algorithms within each category. We then work through a simulation case study of multiple drones collaboratively tracking a ground vehicle. We compare solutions to this problem using a number of different distributed optimization algorithms. In addition, we implement a distributed optimization algorithm in hardware on a network of Rasberry Pis communicating with XBee modules to illustrate robustness to the challenges of real-world communication networks.
Distilling Text into Circuits
Wang-Mascianica, Vincent, Liu, Jonathon, Coecke, Bob
This paper concerns the structure of meanings within natural language. Earlier, a framework named DisCoCirc was sketched that (1) is compositional and distributional (a.k.a. vectorial); (2) applies to general text; (3) captures linguistic `connections' between meanings (cf. grammar) (4) updates word meanings as text progresses; (5) structures sentence types; (6) accommodates ambiguity. Here, we realise DisCoCirc for a substantial fragment of English. When passing to DisCoCirc's text circuits, some `grammatical bureaucracy' is eliminated, that is, DisCoCirc displays a significant degree of (7) inter- and intra-language independence. That is, e.g., independence from word-order conventions that differ across languages, and independence from choices like many short sentences vs. few long sentences. This inter-language independence means our text circuits should carry over to other languages, unlike the language-specific typings of categorial grammars. Hence, text circuits are a lean structure for the `actual substance of text', that is, the inner-workings of meanings within text across several layers of expressiveness (cf. words, sentences, text), and may capture that what is truly universal beneath grammar. The elimination of grammatical bureaucracy also explains why DisCoCirc: (8) applies beyond language, e.g. to spatial, visual and other cognitive modes. While humans could not verbally communicate in terms of text circuits, machines can. We first define a `hybrid grammar' for a fragment of English, i.e. a purpose-built, minimal grammatical formalism needed to obtain text circuits. We then detail a translation process such that all text generated by this grammar yields a text circuit. Conversely, for any text circuit obtained by freely composing the generators, there exists a text (with hybrid grammar) that gives rise to it. Hence: (9) text circuits are generative for text.
Knowing About Knowing: An Illusion of Human Competence Can Hinder Appropriate Reliance on AI Systems
He, Gaole, Kuiper, Lucie, Gadiraju, Ujwal
The dazzling promises of AI systems to augment humans in various tasks hinge on whether humans can appropriately rely on them. Recent research has shown that appropriate reliance is the key to achieving complementary team performance in AI-assisted decision making. This paper addresses an under-explored problem of whether the Dunning-Kruger Effect (DKE) among people can hinder their appropriate reliance on AI systems. DKE is a metacognitive bias due to which less-competent individuals overestimate their own skill and performance. Through an empirical study (N = 249), we explored the impact of DKE on human reliance on an AI system, and whether such effects can be mitigated using a tutorial intervention that reveals the fallibility of AI advice, and exploiting logic units-based explanations to improve user understanding of AI advice. We found that participants who overestimate their performance tend to exhibit under-reliance on AI systems, which hinders optimal team performance. Logic units-based explanations did not help users in either improving the calibration of their competence or facilitating appropriate reliance. While the tutorial intervention was highly effective in helping users calibrate their self-assessment and facilitating appropriate reliance among participants with overestimated self-assessment, we found that it can potentially hurt the appropriate reliance of participants with underestimated self-assessment. Our work has broad implications on the design of methods to tackle user cognitive biases while facilitating appropriate reliance on AI systems. Our findings advance the current understanding of the role of self-assessment in shaping trust and reliance in human-AI decision making. This lays out promising future directions for relevant HCI research in this community.
Taking a Look at the Role of AI in Education
AI has been utilized to automate jobs in a variety of businesses, and it will be useful in the educational sector as well. Professors and teachers frequently need to manage the classroom environment on top of carrying out a variety of administrative and organizational tasks. A report in research paper writing services claims that teachers do more than merely instruct. They also spend time arranging resources and materials for lectures, managing instructional materials, creating progress reports, grading tests, assessing homework, filing required paperwork and other tasks. There is a significant amount of work involved here. AI allows us to automate the administrative and management chores that institutions and instructors perform. AI assists in controlling the classroom atmosphere and numerous administrative responsibilities. The evaluation of assignments, exam grades, and many other things is also made simple by AI.