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Generalizable Implicit Neural Representations via Parameterized Latent Dynamics for Baroclinic Ocean Forecasting
Zhao, Guang, Luo, Xihaier, Lee, Seungjun, Ren, Yihui, Yoo, Shinjae, Van Roekel, Luke, Nadiga, Balu, Narayanan, Sri Hari Krishna, Sun, Yixuan, Xu, Wei
Published as a workshop paper at "Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning", ICLR 2025 Mesoscale ocean dynamics play a critical role in climate systems, governing heat transport, hurricane genesis, and drought patterns. However, simulating these processes at high resolution remains computationally prohibitive due to their nonlinear, multiscale nature and vast spatiotemporal domains. Implicit neural representations (INRs) reduce the computational costs as resolution-independent surrogates but fail in many-query scenarios (inverse modeling) requiring rapid evaluations across diverse parameters. We present PINROD, a novel framework combining dynamics-aware implicit neural representations with parametrized neural ordinary differential equations to address these limitations. Experiments on ocean mesoscale activity data show superior accuracy over existing baselines and improved computational efficiency compared to standard numerical simulations.
Intelligent IoT Attack Detection Design via ODLLM with Feature Ranking-based Knowledge Base
Verma, Satvik, Wang, Qun, Bethel, E. Wes
The widespread adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has introduced significant cybersecurity challenges, particularly with the increasing frequency and sophistication of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Traditional machine learning (ML) techniques often fall short in detecting such attacks due to the complexity of blended and evolving patterns. To address this, we propose a novel framework leveraging On-Device Large Language Models (ODLLMs) augmented with fine-tuning and knowledge base (KB) integration for intelligent IoT network attack detection. By implementing feature ranking techniques and constructing both long and short KBs tailored to model capacities, the proposed framework ensures efficient and accurate detection of DDoS attacks while overcoming computational and privacy limitations. Simulation results demonstrate that the optimized framework achieves superior accuracy across diverse attack types, especially when using compact models in edge computing environments. This work provides a scalable and secure solution for real-time IoT security, advancing the applicability of edge intelligence in cybersecurity.
A friendly introduction to triangular transport
Ramgraber, Maximilian, Sharp, Daniel, Provost, Mathieu Le, Marzouk, Youssef
Decision making under uncertainty is a cross-cutting challenge in science and engineering. Most approaches to this challenge employ probabilistic representations of uncertainty. In complicated systems accessible only via data or black-box models, however, these representations are rarely known. We discuss how to characterize and manipulate such representations using triangular transport maps, which approximate any complex probability distribution as a transformation of a simple, well-understood distribution. The particular structure of triangular transport guarantees many desirable mathematical and computational properties that translate well into solving practical problems. Triangular maps are actively used for density estimation, (conditional) generative modelling, Bayesian inference, data assimilation, optimal experimental design, and related tasks. While there is ample literature on the development and theory of triangular transport methods, this manuscript provides a detailed introduction for scientists interested in employing measure transport without assuming a formal mathematical background. We build intuition for the key foundations of triangular transport, discuss many aspects of its practical implementation, and outline the frontiers of this field.
Socially Constructed Treatment Plans: Analyzing Online Peer Interactions to Understand How Patients Navigate Complex Medical Conditions
Basak, Madhusudan, Sharif, Omar, Hulsey, Jessica, Saunders, Elizabeth C., Goodman, Daisy J., Archibald, Luke J., Preum, Sarah M.
When faced with complex and uncertain medical conditions (e.g., cancer, mental health conditions, recovery from substance dependency), millions of patients seek online peer support. In this study, we leverage content analysis of online discourse and ethnographic studies with clinicians and patient representatives to characterize how treatment plans for complex conditions are "socially constructed." Specifically, we ground online conversation on medication-assisted recovery treatment to medication guidelines and subsequently surface when and why people deviate from the clinical guidelines. We characterize the implications and effectiveness of socially constructed treatment plans through in-depth interviews with clinical experts. Finally, given the enthusiasm around AI-powered solutions for patient communication, we investigate whether and how socially constructed treatment-related knowledge is reflected in a state-of-the-art large language model (LLM). Leveraging a novel mixed-method approach, this study highlights critical research directions for patient-centered communication in online health communities.
ReSearch: Learning to Reason with Search for LLMs via Reinforcement Learning
Chen, Mingyang, Li, Tianpeng, Sun, Haoze, Zhou, Yijie, Zhu, Chenzheng, Wang, Haofen, Pan, Jeff Z., Zhang, Wen, Chen, Huajun, Yang, Fan, Zhou, Zenan, Chen, Weipeng
Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown remarkable capabilities in reasoning, exemplified by the success of OpenAI-o1 and DeepSeek-R1. However, integrating reasoning with external search processes remains challenging, especially for complex multi-hop questions requiring multiple retrieval steps. We propose ReSearch, a novel framework that trains LLMs to Reason with Search via reinforcement learning without using any supervised data on reasoning steps. Our approach treats search operations as integral components of the reasoning chain, where when and how to perform searches is guided by text-based thinking, and search results subsequently influence further reasoning. We train ReSearch on Qwen2.5-7B(-Instruct) and Qwen2.5-32B(-Instruct) models and conduct extensive experiments. Despite being trained on only one dataset, our models demonstrate strong generalizability across various benchmarks. Analysis reveals that ReSearch naturally elicits advanced reasoning capabilities such as reflection and self-correction during the reinforcement learning process.
Collab: Controlled Decoding using Mixture of Agents for LLM Alignment
Chakraborty, Souradip, Bhatt, Sujay, Sehwag, Udari Madhushani, Ghosal, Soumya Suvra, Qiu, Jiahao, Wang, Mengdi, Manocha, Dinesh, Huang, Furong, Koppel, Alec, Ganesh, Sumitra
Alignment of Large Language models (LLMs) is crucial for safe and trustworthy deployment in applications. Reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) has emerged as an effective technique to align LLMs to human preferences and broader utilities, but it requires updating billions of model parameters, which is computationally expensive. Controlled Decoding, by contrast, provides a mechanism for aligning a model at inference time without retraining. However, single-agent decoding approaches often struggle to adapt to diverse tasks due to the complexity and variability inherent in these tasks. To strengthen the test-time performance w.r.t the target task, we propose a mixture of agent-based decoding strategies leveraging the existing off-the-shelf aligned LLM policies. Treating each prior policy as an agent in the spirit of mixture of agent collaboration, we develop a decoding method that allows for inference-time alignment through a token-level selection strategy among multiple agents. For each token, the most suitable LLM is dynamically chosen from a pool of models based on a long-term utility metric. This policy-switching mechanism ensures optimal model selection at each step, enabling efficient collaboration and alignment among LLMs during decoding. Theoretical analysis of our proposed algorithm establishes optimal performance with respect to the target task represented via a target reward for the given off-the-shelf models. We conduct comprehensive empirical evaluations with open-source aligned models on diverse tasks and preferences, which demonstrates the merits of this approach over single-agent decoding baselines. Notably, Collab surpasses the current SoTA decoding strategy, achieving an improvement of up to 1.56x in average reward and 71.89% in GPT-4 based win-tie rate.
Exploring the Energy Landscape of RBMs: Reciprocal Space Insights into Bosons, Hierarchical Learning and Symmetry Breaking
Toledo-Marin, J. Quetzalcóatl, Maiti, Anindita, Fox, Geoffrey C., Melko, Roger G.
Deep generative models have become ubiquitous due to their ability to learn and sample from complex distributions. Despite the proliferation of various frameworks, the relationships among these models remain largely unexplored, a gap that hinders the development of a unified theory of AI learning. We address two central challenges: clarifying the connections between different deep generative models and deepening our understanding of their learning mechanisms. We focus on Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBMs), known for their universal approximation capabilities for discrete distributions. By introducing a reciprocal space formulation, we reveal a connection between RBMs, diffusion processes, and coupled Bosons. We show that at initialization, the RBM operates at a saddle point, where the local curvature is determined by the singular values, whose distribution follows the Marcenko-Pastur law and exhibits rotational symmetry. During training, this rotational symmetry is broken due to hierarchical learning, where different degrees of freedom progressively capture features at multiple levels of abstraction. This leads to a symmetry breaking in the energy landscape, reminiscent of Landau theory. This symmetry breaking in the energy landscape is characterized by the singular values and the weight matrix eigenvector matrix. We derive the corresponding free energy in a mean-field approximation. We show that in the limit of infinite size RBM, the reciprocal variables are Gaussian distributed. Our findings indicate that in this regime, there will be some modes for which the diffusion process will not converge to the Boltzmann distribution. To illustrate our results, we trained replicas of RBMs with different hidden layer sizes using the MNIST dataset. Our findings bridge the gap between disparate generative frameworks and also shed light on the processes underpinning learning in generative models.
Tesla robots visit Capitol Hill amid anti-DOGE protests, attacks on Elon Musk's dealerships
The House select committee on combatting China held an event highlighting American tech and robotics manufacturers on Capitol Hill. Tesla made an appearance on Capitol Hill Wednesday where the company was held up as one of several key American manufacturers during a bipartisan event on U.S.-made robotics. Two Tesla humanoid robots were at the event, with onlookers crowding the machines as they struck various poses. They waved their arms at times, and held up hands with two fingers aloft on each in a Richard Nixon-like pose. At one point, a robot's arm swung out and hit the rope dividing it from the crowd, briefly sending a security guard scrambling to fix it.
Three sensitive messages from full Signal chat explained
In his message, Waltz congratulates Pete - referring to Hegseth, as well as the IC, shorthand for "intelligence community" and Kurilla, a reference to Michael Kurilla, a US Army General who oversees Central Command, a regional combatant command with responsibility over the Middle East and parts of Central and South Asia. The messages do not reveal how the target's whereabouts or movements were tracked. A military expert contacted by the BBC - but who wished to rename nameless - suggested that a combination of aerial platforms, technological tracking capabilities or human intelligence on the ground could have been used, or a combination of various sources. At least 53 people were killed in the initial wave of US airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, which struck more than 30 targets including training facilities, drone infrastructure, as well as weapons manufacturing and storage sties and command and control centres, including one in which the Pentagon said several unmanned aerial vehicle experts were located. It is unclear which of the targets Waltz was referring to in the group chat.
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami review – what if AI could read our minds?
Arriving home at Los Angeles international airport, Sara Hussein is asked by immigration and customs officers to step aside, then taken to an interview room. The fundamentals of this scene are familiar – you've probably watched something like it in a film, or dreamed about it happening to you; perhaps it already has. But Sara lives in a new world, several decades in the future, and she is being arrested because Scout, the state's AI security system, has flagged something irregular inside her mind. Sara seems unexceptional: she's a museum archivist, married and mother to young twins. She once had an argument with her husband Elias after he impulsively part-exchanged the family Toyota for a Volvo.