Education
Online Selective Generation with Adversarial Bandit Feedback
Lee, Minjae, Jung, Yoonjae, Park, Sangdon
Large language generative models increasingly interact with humans, while their falsified responses raise concerns. To mitigate this hallucination effect, selectively abstaining from answering, called selective generation, provides an effective way for generators to control the hallucination when uncertain about their answers. However, as selective generators interact under adversarial environments and receive partial feedback from users on selected generation (e.g., thumbs up or down on the selected answer), learning methods for selective generation under such practical setups are crucial but currently missing. To address this limitation, we propose an online learning algorithm for selective generation with partial feedback under an adaptive adversary. In particular, we re-purpose an adversarial bandit algorithm to design an online selective generation method with controllable false discovery rates (FDR), which measures the rate of hallucination. The key building blocks include a novel conversion lemma from regret of any bandit algorithm to the FDR, and the exploitation of a unique structure of selective generation to reuse partial feedback, which we call feedback unlocking. We empirically evaluate the efficacy of the proposed online selective generation algorithm with partial feedback over diverse learning environments, demonstrating its ability to control the FDR, while maintaining reasonable selection efficiency, i.e., the ratio of non-abstaining answers, compared to baselines.
Let's Reason Formally: Natural-Formal Hybrid Reasoning Enhances LLM's Math Capability
Wang, Ruida, Li, Yuxin, Fung, Yi R., Zhang, Tong
Enhancing the mathematical reasoning capabilities of LLMs has garnered significant attention in both the mathematical and computer science communities. Recent works have made substantial progress in both Natural Language (NL) reasoning and Formal Language (FL) reasoning by leveraging the potential of pure Reinforcement Learning (RL) methods on base models. However, RL approaches struggle to impart new capabilities not presented in the base model, highlighting the need to integrate more knowledge like FL into NL math reasoning effectively. Yet, this integration is challenging due to inherent disparities in problem structure and reasoning format between NL and FL. To address these challenges, we introduce **NL-FL HybridReasoning (NFL-HR)**, an end-to-end framework designed to incorporate the FL expert into NL math problem-solving. To bridge the NL and FL input format gap, we propose the NL-FL Problem Alignment method, which reformulates the Question-Answering (QA) problems in NL as existence theorems in FL. Subsequently, the Mixed Problem Input technique we provide enables the FL reasoner to handle both QA and existence problems concurrently. Lastly, we mitigate the NL and FL output format gap in reasoning through an LLM-based Answer Extraction mechanism. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that the NFL-HR framework achieves **89.80**% and **84.34%** accuracy rates on the MATH-500 and the AMC benchmarks, surpassing the NL baseline by **4.60%** and **4.82%**, respectively. Notably, some problems resolved by our framework remain unsolved by the NL baseline model even under a larger number of trials.
Source-Free Object Detection with Detection Transformer
Yao, Huizai, Zhao, Sicheng, Lu, Shuo, Chen, Hui, Li, Yangyang, Liu, Guoping, Xing, Tengfei, Yan, Chenggang, Tao, Jianhua, Ding, Guiguang
Source-Free Object Detection (SFOD) enables knowledge transfer from a source domain to an unsupervised target domain for object detection without access to source data. Most existing SFOD approaches are either confined to conventional object detection (OD) models like Faster R-CNN or designed as general solutions without tailored adaptations for novel OD architectures, especially Detection Transformer (DETR). In this paper, we introduce Feature Reweighting ANd Contrastive Learning NetworK (FRANCK), a novel SFOD framework specifically designed to perform query-centric feature enhancement for DETRs. FRANCK comprises four key components: (1) an Objectness Score-based Sample Reweighting (OSSR) module that computes attention-based objectness scores on multi-scale encoder feature maps, reweighting the detection loss to emphasize less-recognized regions; (2) a Contrastive Learning with Matching-based Memory Bank (CMMB) module that integrates multi-level features into memory banks, enhancing class-wise contrastive learning; (3) an Uncertainty-weighted Query-fused Feature Distillation (UQFD) module that improves feature distillation through prediction quality reweighting and query feature fusion; and (4) an improved self-training pipeline with a Dynamic Teacher Updating Interval (DTUI) that optimizes pseudo-label quality. By leveraging these components, FRANCK effectively adapts a source-pre-trained DETR model to a target domain with enhanced robustness and generalization. Extensive experiments on several widely used benchmarks demonstrate that our method achieves state-of-the-art performance, highlighting its effectiveness and compatibility with DETR-based SFOD models.
LogiNumSynth: Synthesizing Joint Logical-Numerical Reasoning Problems for Language Models
Liu, Yiwei, Li, Yucheng, Li, Xiao, Cheng, Gong
Joint logical-numerical reasoning remains a major challenge for language models, yet existing datasets rely on fixed rule sets and offer limited control over task complexity, constraining their generalizability for evaluation and training. We present LogiNumSynth, a flexible natural language problem synthesizer that synthesizes tasks requiring proficiency in joint logical reasoning (e.g., rule-based reasoning) and numerical reasoning (e.g., arithmetic computation). LogiNumSynth supports fine-grained control over reasoning world richness, logical reasoning depth, and the complexity of numerical computations, enabling flexible data synthesis across difficulty levels. We demonstrate three key contributions: (1) Synthesizer -- synthesizing fully controllable joint reasoning tasks over natural language; (2) Evaluation & Process Analysis -- evaluating both process accuracy and answer accuracy; (3) Targeted Training -- using synthesized data to enhance LLMs' reasoning performance. Experiments with multiple LLMs highlight persistent weaknesses in logical-numerical reasoning, showing that LogiNumSynth can serve as both a diagnostic tool and a source of targeted supervision for advancing integrated reasoning skills.
ABLEIST: Intersectional Disability Bias in LLM-Generated Hiring Scenarios
Phutane, Mahika, Jung, Hayoung, Kim, Matthew, Mitra, Tanushree, Vashistha, Aditya
Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly under scrutiny for perpetuating identity-based discrimination in high-stakes domains such as hiring, particularly against people with disabilities (PwD). However, existing research remains largely Western-centric, overlooking how intersecting forms of marginalization--such as gender and caste--shape experiences of PwD in the Global South. We conduct a comprehensive audit of six LLMs across 2,820 hiring scenarios spanning diverse disability, gender, nationality, and caste profiles. To capture subtle intersectional harms and biases, we introduce ABLEIST (Ableism, Inspiration, Superhumanization, and Tokenism), a set of five ableism-specific and three intersectional harm metrics grounded in disability studies literature. Our results reveal significant increases in ABLEIST harms towards disabled candidates--harms that many state-of-the-art models failed to detect. These harms were further amplified by sharp increases in intersectional harms (e.g., Tokenism) for gender and caste-marginalized disabled candidates, highlighting critical blind spots in current safety tools and the need for intersectional safety evaluations of frontier models in high-stakes domains like hiring.
A Survey on Agentic Multimodal Large Language Models
Yao, Huanjin, Zhang, Ruifei, Huang, Jiaxing, Zhang, Jingyi, Wang, Yibo, Fang, Bo, Zhu, Ruolin, Jing, Yongcheng, Liu, Shunyu, Li, Guanbin, Tao, Dacheng
With the recent emergence of revolutionary autonomous agentic systems, research community is witnessing a significant shift from traditional static, passive, and domain-specific AI agents toward more dynamic, proactive, and generalizable agentic AI. Motivated by the growing interest in agentic AI and its potential trajectory toward AGI, we present a comprehensive survey on Agentic Multimodal Large Language Models (Agentic MLLMs). In this survey, we explore the emerging paradigm of agentic MLLMs, delineating their conceptual foundations and distinguishing characteristics from conventional MLLM-based agents. We establish a conceptual framework that organizes agentic MLLMs along three fundamental dimensions: (i) Agentic internal intelligence functions as the system's commander, enabling accurate long-horizon planning through reasoning, reflection, and memory; (ii) Agentic external tool invocation, whereby models proactively use various external tools to extend their problem-solving capabilities beyond their intrinsic knowledge; and (iii) Agentic environment interaction further situates models within virtual or physical environments, allowing them to take actions, adapt strategies, and sustain goal-directed behavior in dynamic real-world scenarios. To further accelerate research in this area for the community, we compile open-source training frameworks, training and evaluation datasets for developing agentic MLLMs. Finally, we review the downstream applications of agentic MLLMs and outline future research directions for this rapidly evolving field. To continuously track developments in this rapidly evolving field, we will also actively update a public repository at https://github.com/HJYao00/Awesome-Agentic-MLLMs.
Find Your Optimal Teacher: Personalized Data Synthesis via Router-Guided Multi-Teacher Distillation
Zhang, Hengyuan, Yang, Shiping, Liang, Xiao, Shang, Chenming, Jiang, Yuxuan, Tao, Chaofan, Xiong, Jing, So, Hayden Kwok-Hay, Xie, Ruobing, Chang, Angel X., Wong, Ngai
Training student models on synthetic data generated by strong teacher models is a promising way to distilling the capabilities of teachers. However, recent studies show that stronger models are not always optimal teachers, revealing a mismatch between teacher outputs and student learnability. To address this issue, we propose PerSyn (Personalized data Synthesis), a novel synthesis strategy that operates under a new ``Route then Generate'' paradigm to create data tailored to each student model, enabling it to learn more effectively. Specifically, PerSyn first assigns each prompt to its optimal teacher via a query-level router that jointly considers student learnability and teacher response quality. Each teacher then synthesizes data only for its assigned prompts, making the process more efficient than the conventional ``Generate then Select'' paradigm, where all teachers must generate parallel responses for the entire prompt set before constructing the final dataset. Extensive experiments across different model families and scales demonstrate that PerSyn consistently achieves superior or comparable performance to all baselines in instruct tuning and math reasoning settings. Further analysis verifies the effectiveness of PerSyn and offers extra insights to propel future research.
Automatic Piecewise Linear Regression for Predicting Student Learning Satisfaction
Choi, Haemin, Nadarajan, Gayathri
Although student learning satisfaction has been widely studied, modern techniques such as interpretable machine learning and neural networks have not been sufficiently explored. This study demonstrates that a recent model that combines boosting with interpretability, automatic piecewise linear regression(APLR), offers the best fit for predicting learning satisfaction among several state-of-the-art approaches. Through the analysis of APLR's numerical and visual interpretations, students' time management and concentration abilities, perceived helpfulness to classmates, and participation in offline courses have the most significant positive impact on learning satisfaction. Surprisingly, involvement in creative activities did not positively affect learning satisfaction. Moreover, the contributing factors can be interpreted on an individual level, allowing educators to customize instructions according to student profiles.
Personalized Motion Guidance Framework for Athlete-Centric Coaching
Takamidoa, Ryota, Suzukia, Chiharu, Nakamoto, Hiroki
A critical challenge in contemporary sports science lies in filling the gap between group-level insights derived from controlled hypothesis-driven experiments and the real-world need for personalized coaching tailored to individual athletes' unique movement patterns. This study developed a Personalized Motion Guidance Framework (PMGF) to enhance athletic performance by generating individualized motion-refinement guides using generative artificial intelligence techniques. PMGF leverages a vertical autoencoder to encode motion sequences into athlete-specific latent representations, which can then be directly manipulated to generate meaningful guidance motions. Two manipulation strategies were explored: (1) smooth interpolation between the learner's motion and a target (e.g., expert) motion to facilitate observational learning, and (2) shifting the motion pattern in an optimal direction in the latent space using a local optimization technique. The results of the validation experiment with data from 51 baseball pitchers revealed that (1) PMGF successfully generated smooth transitions in motion patterns between individuals across all 1,275 pitcher pairs, and (2) the features significantly altered through PMGF manipulations reflected known performance-enhancing characteristics, such as increased stride length and knee extension associated with higher ball velocity, indicating that PMGF induces biomechanically plausible improvements. We propose a future extension called general-PMGF to enhance the applicability of this framework. This extension incorporates bodily, environmental, and task constraints into the generation process, aiming to provide more realistic and versatile guidance across diverse sports contexts.
When or What? Understanding Consumer Engagement on Digital Platforms
Understanding what drives popularity is critical in today's digital service economy, where content creators compete for consumer attention. Prior studies have primarily emphasized the role of content features, yet creators often misjudge what audiences actually value. This study applies Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) modeling to a large corpus of TED Talks, treating the platform as a case of digital service provision in which creators (speakers) and consumers (audiences) interact. By comparing the thematic supply of creators with the demand expressed in audience engagement, we identify persistent mismatches between producer offerings and consumer preferences. Our longitudinal analysis further reveals that temporal dynamics exert a stronger influence on consumer engagement than thematic content, suggesting that when content is delivered may matter more than what is delivered. These findings challenge the dominant assumption that content features are the primary drivers of popularity and highlight the importance of timing and contextual factors in shaping consumer responses. The results provide new insights into consumer attention dynamics on digital platforms and carry practical implications for marketers, platform managers, and content creators seeking to optimize audience engagement strategies.