To accommodate constantly changing road conditions, real-time model training is essential for autonomous driving (AD). Federated learning (FL) serves as a promising paradigm to enable autonomous vehicles to train models collaboratively with their onboard computing resources. However, existing vehicle selection schemes for FL all assume predetermined and location-independent vehicles' datasets, neglecting the fact that vehicles collect training data along their routes, thereby resulting in suboptimal vehicle selection. To improve the perception quality in AD for a region, we propose Sense4FL, a vehicular crowdsensing-enhanced FL framework featuring trajectory-dependent vehicular training data collection. To this end, we first derive the convergence bound of FL by considering the impact of both vehicles' uncertain trajectories and uploading probabilities, from which we discover that minimizing the training loss is equivalent to minimizing a weighted sum of local and global earth mover's distance (EMD) between vehicles' collected data distribution and global data distribution. Based on this observation, we formulate the trajectory-dependent vehicle selection and data collection problem for FL in AD. Given that the problem is NP-hard, we develop an efficient algorithm to find the solution with an approximation guarantee. Extensive simulation results have demonstrated the effectiveness of our approach in improving object detection performance compared with existing benchmarks.

Mathematical reasoning and optimization are fundamental to artificial intelligence and computational problem-solving. Recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) have significantly improved AI-driven mathematical reasoning, theorem proving, and optimization techniques. This survey explores the evolution of mathematical problem-solving in AI, from early statistical learning approaches to modern deep learning and transformer-based methodologies. We review the capabilities of pretrained language models and LLMs in performing arithmetic operations, complex reasoning, theorem proving, and structured symbolic computation. A key focus is on how LLMs integrate with optimization and control frameworks, including mixed-integer programming, linear quadratic control, and multi-agent optimization strategies. We examine how LLMs assist in problem formulation, constraint generation, and heuristic search, bridging theoretical reasoning with practical applications. We also discuss enhancement techniques such as Chain-of-Thought reasoning, instruction tuning, and tool-augmented methods that improve LLM's problem-solving performance. Despite their progress, LLMs face challenges in numerical precision, logical consistency, and proof verification. Emerging trends such as hybrid neural-symbolic reasoning, structured prompt engineering, and multi-step self-correction aim to overcome these limitations. Future research should focus on interpretability, integration with domain-specific solvers, and improving the robustness of AI-driven decision-making. This survey offers a comprehensive review of the current landscape and future directions of mathematical reasoning and optimization with LLMs, with applications across engineering, finance, and scientific research.

The rapid advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) have revolutionized educational technology, enabling innovative approaches to automated and personalized content creation. This paper introduces Slide2Text, a system that leverages LLMs to transform PowerPoint presentations into customized textbooks. By extracting slide content using OCR, organizing it into a coherent structure, and generating tailored materials such as explanations, exercises, and references, Slide2Text streamlines the textbook creation process. Flexible customization options further enhance its adaptability to diverse educational needs. The system highlights the potential of LLMs in modernizing textbook creation and improving educational accessibility. Future developments will explore multimedia inputs and advanced user customization features.

Adopting AI copilots in professional workflows presents opportunities for enhanced productivity, efficiency, and decision making. In this paper, we present results from a six month trial of M365 Copilot conducted at our organisation in 2024. A qualitative interview study was carried out with 27 participants. The study explored user perceptions of M365 Copilot's effectiveness, productivity impact, evolving expectations, ethical concerns, and overall satisfaction. Initial enthusiasm for the tool was met with mixed post trial experiences. While some users found M365 Copilot beneficial for tasks such as email coaching, meeting summaries, and content retrieval, others reported unmet expectations in areas requiring deeper contextual understanding, reasoning, and integration with existing workflows. Ethical concerns were a recurring theme, with users highlighting issues related to data privacy, transparency, and AI bias. While M365 Copilot demonstrated value in specific operational areas, its broader impact remained constrained by usability limitations and the need for human oversight to validate AI generated outputs.

As all readers of this essay know, I am not in any way expert in machine learning (ML) and large language models (LLMs), so my descriptions and observations are, at best, lightweight cartoons of what is actually going on. Please keep this in mind as you read this. Some of you may remember Spock's death in Star Trek II (Wrath of Khan) and the brief scene where Spock mind-melds with Dr. McCoy: Spock says "remember" while depositing his katra in McCoy's brain in anticipation of self-sacrifice to save the starship Enterprise. As I read about yet another new breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) from Google Research, I thought of that scene. The new idea, christened "TITAN", is for a ML system to continue learning while in use after training.a

Vali Lalioti is a pioneering designer, computer scientist and innovator. She has a PhD in Computer Science, an MRes in Design and an MBA, and extensive international leadership, research and innovation experience in Silicon Valley, Africa, China, Japan and Europe. Vali is passionate about how technology interacts with society and talks globally on women in tech, art and technology education and her research in societal applications for well-being, healthy ageing and art. She developed the first ever BBC Augmented Reality production in 2003 and has introduced the UK's first Creative Robotics University Degrees.

"When not wasting money on bureaucracy," he wrote, "The Department of Education has been funding anti-Americanism, gender nonsense and anti-meritocratic racism." By the end of the month, the department had been stripped to the bone, dismantled by Donald Trump and Musk's DOGE. And on Thursday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who has said her agency's "final mission" would be to send education programs "back to the states," was on hand as the president signed an executive order to begin eliminating what remained of the department. The companies' founders share an admiration for Musk and desire to help their students replicate his success. At the same time that federal support for public education is imperiled, two private online education programs whose seeds were planted with Musk and SpaceX are getting a second wind.

Two high school graduates who say they can't read or write are suing their respective public school systems, arguing they were not given the free public education to which they are entitled. Cornell Law School Professor William A. Jacobson, director of the Securities Law Clinic, told Fox News Digital the lawsuits signify a "much deeper problem" with the American public school system. "I think these cases reflect a deeper problem in education. For each of these cases, there are probably tens of thousands of students who never got a proper education -- they get pushed along the system," Jacobson said. "Unfortunately … we've created incentives, particularly for public school systems, to just push students along and not to hold them accountable."

Artificial neural networks (ANNs), have become ubiquitous and revolutionized many applications ranging from computer vision to medical diagnoses. However, they offer a fundamentally connectionist and distributed approach to computing, in stark contrast to classical computers that use the von Neumann architecture. This distinction has sparked renewed interest in developing unconventional hardware to support more efficient implementations of ANNs, rather than merely emulating them on traditional systems. Photonics stands out as a particularly promising platform, providing scalability, high speed, energy efficiency, and the ability for parallel information processing. However, fully realized autonomous optical neural networks (ONNs) with in-situ learning capabilities are still rare. In this work, we demonstrate a fully autonomous and parallel ONN using a multimode vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) using off-the-shelf components. Our ONN is highly efficient and is scalable both in network size and inference bandwidth towards the GHz range. High performance hardware-compatible optimization algorithms are necessary in order to minimize reliance on external von Neumann computers to fully exploit the potential of ONNs. As such we present and extensively study several algorithms which are broadly compatible with a wide range of systems. We then apply these algorithms to optimize our ONN, and benchmark them using the MNIST dataset. We show that our ONN can achieve high accuracy and convergence efficiency, even under limited hardware resources. Crucially, we compare these different algorithms in terms of scaling and optimization efficiency in term of convergence time which is crucial when working with limited external resources. Our work provides some guidance for the design of future ONNs as well as a simple and flexible way to train them.

Multimodal scientific problems (MSPs) involve complex issues that require the integration of multiple modalities, such as text and diagrams, presenting a significant challenge in artificial intelligence. While progress has been made in addressing traditional scientific problems, MSPs still face two primary issues: the challenge of multi-modal comprehensive reasoning in scientific problem-solving and the lack of reflective and rethinking capabilities. To address these issues, we introduce a Multi-Agent framework based on the Big Seven Personality and Socratic guidance (MAPS). This framework employs seven distinct agents that leverage feedback mechanisms and the Socratic method to guide the resolution of MSPs. To tackle the first issue, we propose a progressive four-agent solving strategy, where each agent focuses on a specific stage of the problem-solving process. For the second issue, we introduce a Critic agent, inspired by Socratic questioning, which prompts critical thinking and stimulates autonomous learning. We conduct extensive experiments on the EMMA, Olympiad, and MathVista datasets, achieving promising results that outperform the current SOTA model by 15.84% across all tasks. Meanwhile, the additional analytical experiments also verify the model's progress as well as generalization ability.