Education
A review of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and its applications in a wide variety of disciplines -- From Medical to Remote Sensing
Dash, Ankan, Ye, Junyi, Wang, Guiling
We look into Generative Adversarial Network (GAN), its prevalent variants and applications in a number of sectors. GANs combine two neural networks that compete against one another using zero-sum game theory, allowing them to create much crisper and discrete outputs. GANs can be used to perform image processing, video generation and prediction, among other computer vision applications. GANs can also be utilised for a variety of science-related activities, including protein engineering, astronomical data processing, remote sensing image dehazing, and crystal structure synthesis. Other notable fields where GANs have made gains include finance, marketing, fashion design, sports, and music. Therefore in this article we provide a comprehensive overview of the applications of GANs in a wide variety of disciplines. We first cover the theory supporting GAN, GAN variants, and the metrics to evaluate GANs. Then we present how GAN and its variants can be applied in twelve domains, ranging from STEM fields, such as astronomy and biology, to business fields, such as marketing and finance, and to arts, such as music. As a result, researchers from other fields may grasp how GANs work and apply them to their own study. To the best of our knowledge, this article provides the most comprehensive survey of GAN's applications in different fields.
Phonology Recognition in American Sign Language
Tavella, Federico, Galata, Aphrodite, Cangelosi, Angelo
Inspired by recent developments in natural language processing, we propose a novel approach to sign language processing based on phonological properties validated by American Sign Language users. By taking advantage of datasets composed of phonological data and people speaking sign language, we use a pretrained deep model based on mesh reconstruction to extract the 3D coordinates of the signers keypoints. Then, we train standard statistical and deep machine learning models in order to assign phonological classes to each temporal sequence of coordinates. Our paper introduces the idea of exploiting the phonological properties manually assigned by sign language users to classify videos of people performing signs by regressing a 3D mesh. We establish a new baseline for this problem based on the statistical distribution of 725 different signs. Our best-performing models achieve a micro-averaged F1-score of 58% for the major location class and 70% for the sign type using statistical and deep learning algorithms, compared to their corresponding baselines of 35% and 39%.
Topologically-Informed Atlas Learning
Cohn, Thomas, Devraj, Nikhil, Jenkins, Odest Chadwicke
We present a new technique that enables manifold learning to accurately embed data manifolds that contain holes, without discarding any topological information. Manifold learning aims to embed high dimensional data into a lower dimensional Euclidean space by learning a coordinate chart, but it requires that the entire manifold can be embedded in a single chart. This is impossible for manifolds with holes. In such cases, it is necessary to learn an atlas: a collection of charts that collectively cover the entire manifold. We begin with many small charts, and combine them in a bottom-up approach, where charts are only combined if doing so will not introduce problematic topological features. When it is no longer possible to combine any charts, each chart is individually embedded with standard manifold learning techniques, completing the construction of the atlas. We show the efficacy of our method by constructing atlases for challenging synthetic manifolds; learning human motion embeddings from motion capture data; and learning kinematic models of articulated objects.
Delayed rejection Hamiltonian Monte Carlo for sampling multiscale distributions
Modi, Chirag, Barnett, Alex, Carpenter, Bob
The efficiency of Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) can suffer when sampling a distribution with a wide range of length scales, because the small step sizes needed for stability in high-curvature regions are inefficient elsewhere. To address this we present a delayed rejection variant: if an initial HMC trajectory is rejected, we make one or more subsequent proposals each using a step size geometrically smaller than the last. We extend the standard delayed rejection framework by allowing the probability of a retry to depend on the probability of accepting the previous proposal. We test the scheme in several sampling tasks, including multiscale model distributions such as Neal's funnel, and statistical applications. Delayed rejection enables up to five-fold performance gains over optimally-tuned HMC, as measured by effective sample size per gradient evaluation. Even for simpler distributions, delayed rejection provides increased robustness to step size misspecification. Along the way, we provide an accessible but rigorous review of detailed balance for HMC. Keywords: delayed rejection, Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, detailed balance, multiscale.
Smooth Normalizing Flows
Köhler, Jonas, Krämer, Andreas, Noé, Frank
Normalizing flows are a promising tool for modeling probability distributions in physical systems. While state-of-the-art flows accurately approximate distributions and energies, applications in physics additionally require smooth energies to compute forces and higher-order derivatives. Furthermore, such densities are often defined on non-trivial topologies. A recent example are Boltzmann Generators for generating 3D-structures of peptides and small proteins. These generative models leverage the space of internal coordinates (dihedrals, angles, and bonds), which is a product of hypertori and compact intervals. In this work, we introduce a class of smooth mixture transformations working on both compact intervals and hypertori. Mixture transformations employ root-finding methods to invert them in practice, which has so far prevented bi-directional flow training. To this end, we show that parameter gradients and forces of such inverses can be computed from forward evaluations via the inverse function theorem. We demonstrate two advantages of such smooth flows: they allow training by force matching to simulation data and can be used as potentials in molecular dynamics simulations.
17 Best Courses to Learn Spatial Analysis in GIS +Python & R
It is simply looking at where things happen to understand why they happen there. Geospatial Data Science is the discipline that specifically focuses on the spatial component of data science. Spatial Analysis is considered as a core infrastructure of the modern tech industry and is heavily substantiated by the business transactions of world-leading companies such as Uber, Deliveroo, Apple, Google, Intel, and evidently by the motor companies such as Tesla, BMW, and Mercedes. So, these companies are bound to hire more and more Spatial Data Analysts and Geo-Spatial Scientists. Based on these business trends, we've compiled the spatial analysis courses designed by world-class educators to help beginners gain solid foundations of spatial data analysis.
Simplr Artificial Intelligence and Technology Scholarship
Simplr, a human-first, machine-enabled customer experience platform, today announced that they are now accepting applications for the 2022 Simplr Artificial Intelligence and Technology Scholarship. Now in its third year, the scholarship was established to support and encourage students who are pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or Information Technology or are attending or will attend law school with a focus on intellectual property. "As a successful startup involved in machine learning and AI, we like to give back by encouraging students to be creative while also earning degrees in these more difficult and technical fields," said Daniel Rodriguez, Simplr CMO. "Our hope is that winners of this scholarship become even more inspired to take a seat among the crop of leaders who will define the promise of technology for the next generation." The $7500 scholarship will be given to the applicant who writes the most compelling essay on why they have chosen their field of study and how it applies to the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning, Blockchain technology, and the Internet of Things.
Five SCS Students Named Siebel Scholars
Five graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science have received Siebel Scholars awards for 2022. "Every year, the Siebel Scholars continue to impress me with their commitment to academics and influencing future society. This year's class is exceptional, and once again represents the best and brightest minds from around the globe who are advancing innovations in healthcare, artificial intelligence, financial services and more," said Thomas M. Siebel, chairman of the Siebel Scholars Foundation. "It is my distinct pleasure to welcome these students into this ever-growing, lifelong community, and I personally look forward to seeing their impact and contributions unfold." Ahuja is a Ph.D. candidate in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) whose research focuses on machine learning and sensing.
New Research Shows Learning Is More Effective When Active
Engaging students through interactive activities, discussions, feedback and AI-enhanced technologies resulted in improved academic performance compared to traditional lectures, lessons or readings, faculty from Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute concluded after collecting research into active learning. The research also found that effective active learning methods use not only hands-on and minds-on approaches, but also hearts-on, providing increased emotional and social support. Interest in active learning grew as the COVID-19 pandemic challenged educators to find new ways to engage students. Schools and teachers incorporated new technologies to adapt, while students faced negative psychological effects of isolation, restlessness and inattention brought on by quarantine and remote learning. The pandemic made it clear that traditional approaches to education may not be the best way to learn, but questions persisted about what active learning is and how best to use it to teach and engage and excite students.
How Artificial Intelligence can change Education
Conversations about Artificial Intelligence usually involve robots, space exploration machines, and smart home devices. The impact of this technology on education is much less discussed, although AI could change it completely. For years, all teachers have struggled to help each student while taking their differences into account. This is especially difficult in classes of twenty, thirty people, each of whom, regardless of their abilities, must take standardized tests. Almost every country in the world has a similar system of education, which has changed little in the last fifty years.