Industry
SURFing to the Fundamental Limit of Jet Tagging
Pang, Ian, Faroughy, Darius A., Shih, David, Das, Ranit, Kasieczka, Gregor
Jet tagging is a central task in collider physics. Over the past decade, machine learning has driven major advances in jet tagging, with increasingly sophisticated architectures achieving very high classification performance on simulated datasets [1-11]. This success naturally raises a key question: have current jet taggers already reached the fundamental limit of jet tagging, or does a gap remain between practical performance and the true statistical optimum? The Neyman-Pearson (NP) limit, defined by the likelihood ratio, is the best possible discriminant between two different underlying physics processes - such as top and QCD jets - that any classifier could achieve if it had access to the exact data likelihoods [12]. In practice, however, this limit cannot be evaluated directly because the true likelihood of the data-generating process is unknown. It therefore remains unclear how close existing classifiers are to this ultimate bound. Recently, Ref. [13] proposed using autoregressive GPT-style generative models to probe this limit for top vs. QCD jets from the JetClass dataset [14]. These models operate on discretized, tokenized representations of jet constituents and yield explicit log-likelihoods, enabling the computation of likelihood ratios between jet classes.
Balancing Natural Language Processing Accuracy and Normalisation in Extracting Medical Insights
Tworek, Paulina, Bargieł, Miłosz, Khan, Yousef, Pełech-Pilichowski, Tomasz, Mikołajczyk, Marek, Lewandowski, Roman, Sousa, Jose
Extracting structured medical insights from unstructured clinical text using Natural Language Processing (NLP) remains an open challenge in healthcare, particularly in non-English contexts where resources are scarce. This study presents a comparative analysis of NLP low-compute rule-based methods and Large Language Models (LLMs) for information extraction from electronic health records (EHR) obtained from the Voivodeship Rehabilitation Hospital for Children in Ameryka, Poland. We evaluate both approaches by extracting patient demographics, clinical findings, and prescribed medications while examining the effects of lack of text normalisation and translation-induced information loss. Results demonstrate that rule-based methods provide higher accuracy in information retrieval tasks, particularly for age and sex extraction. However, LLMs offer greater adaptability and scalability, excelling in drug name recognition. The effectiveness of the LLMs was compared with texts originally in Polish and those translated into English, assessing the impact of translation. These findings highlight the trade-offs between accuracy, normalisation, and computational cost when deploying NLP in healthcare settings. We argue for hybrid approaches that combine the precision of rule-based systems with the adaptability of LLMs, offering a practical path toward more reliable and resource-efficient clinical NLP in real-world hospitals.
TB or Not TB: Coverage-Driven Direct Preference Optimization for Verilog Stimulus Generation
Nadimi, Bardia, Filom, Khashayar, Chen, Deming, Zheng, Hao
With the rapid advancement of Large Language Models (LLMs), there is growing interest in applying them to hardware design and verification. Among these stages, design verification remains the most time-consuming and resource-intensive phase, where generating effective stimuli for the design under test (DUT) is both critical and labor-intensive. We present {\it TB or not TB}, a framework for automated stimulus generation using LLMs fine-tuned through Coverage-Driven Direct Preference Optimization (CD-DPO). To enable preference-based training, we introduce PairaNet, a dataset derived from PyraNet that pairs high- and low-quality testbenches labeled using simulation-derived coverage metrics. The proposed CD-DPO method integrates quantitative coverage feedback directly into the optimization objective, guiding the model toward generating stimuli that maximize verification coverage. Experiments on the CVDP CID12 benchmark show that {\it TB or not TB} outperforms both open-source and commercial baselines, achieving up to 77.27\% improvement in code coverage, demonstrating the effectiveness of Coverage-driven preference optimization for LLM-based hardware verification.
Identifying the Supply Chain of AI for Trustworthiness and Risk Management in Critical Applications
Sheh, Raymond K., Geappen, Karen
Risks associated with the use of AI, ranging from algorithmic bias to model hallucinations, have received much attention and extensive research across the AI community, from researchers to end -users. However, a gap exists in the systematic assessment of su pply chain risks associated with the complex web of data sources, pre-trained models, agents, services, and other systems that contribute to the output of modern AI systems. This gap is particularly problematic when AI systems are used in critical applications, such as the food supply, healthcare, utilities, law, insurance, and transport. We survey the current state of AI risk assessment and management, with a focus on the supply chain of AI and risks relating to the behavior and outputs of the AI system. We then present a proposed taxonomy specifically for categorizing AI supply chain enti ties. This taxonomy helps stakeholders, especially those without extensive AI expertise, to "consider the right questions" and systematically inventory dependencies across their organization's AI systems.
A time for monsters: Organizational knowing after LLMs
Faraj, Samer, Torrents, Joel Perez, Mantere, Saku, Bhardwaj, Anand
Large Language Models (LLMs) are reshaping organizational knowing by unsettling the epistemological foundations of representational and practice-based perspectives. We conceptualize LLMs as Haraway-ian monsters, that is, hybrid, boundary-crossing entities that destabilize established categories while opening new possibilities for inquiry. Focusing on analogizing as a fundamental driver of knowledge, we examine how LLMs generate connections through large-scale statistical inference. Analyzing their operation across the dimensions of surface/deep analogies and near/far domains, we highlight both their capacity to expand organizational knowing and the epistemic risks they introduce. Building on this, we identify three challenges of living with such epistemic monsters: the transformation of inquiry, the growing need for dialogical vetting, and the redistribution of agency. By foregrounding the entangled dynamics of knowing-with-LLMs, the paper extends organizational theory beyond human-centered epistemologies and invites renewed attention to how knowledge is created, validated, and acted upon in the age of intelligent technologies.
Securing AI Agents Against Prompt Injection Attacks
Ramakrishnan, Badrinath, Balaji, Akshaya
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems have become widely used for enhancing large language model capabilities, but they introduce significant security vulnerabilities through prompt injection attacks. We present a comprehensive benchmark for evaluating prompt injection risks in RAG-enabled AI agents and propose a multi-layered defense framework. Our benchmark includes 847 adversarial test cases across five attack categories: direct injection, context manipulation, instruction override, data exfiltration, and cross-context contamination. We evaluate three defense mechanisms: content filtering with embedding-based anomaly detection, hierarchical system prompt guardrails, and multi-stage response verification, across seven state-of-the-art language models. Our combined framework reduces successful attack rates from 73.2% to 8.7% while maintaining 94.3% of baseline task performance. We release our benchmark dataset and defense implementation to support future research in AI agent security.
Build AI Assistants using Large Language Models and Agents to Enhance the Engineering Education of Biomechanics
Yan, Hanzhi, Lu, Qin, Wang, Xianqiao, Zhai, Xiaoming, Liu, Tianming, Li, He
While large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable versatility across a wide range of general tasks, their effectiveness often diminishes in domain-specific applications due to inherent knowledge gaps. Moreover, their performance typically declines when addressing complex problems that require multi-step reasoning and analysis. In response to these challenges, we propose leveraging both LLMs and AI agents to develop education assistants aimed at enhancing undergraduate learning in biomechanics courses that focus on analyzing the force and moment in the musculoskeletal system of the human body. To achieve our goal, we construct a dual-module framework to enhance LLM performance in biomechanics educational tasks: 1) we apply Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to improve the specificity and logical consistency of LLM's responses to the conceptual true/false questions; 2) we build a Multi-Agent System (MAS) to solve calculation-oriented problems involving multi-step reasoning and code execution. Specifically, we evaluate the performance of several LLMs, i.e., Qwen-1.0-32B, Qwen-2.5-32B, and Llama-70B, on a biomechanics dataset comprising 100 true/false conceptual questions and problems requiring equation derivation and calculation. Our results demonstrate that RAG significantly enhances the performance and stability of LLMs in answering conceptual questions, surpassing those of vanilla models. On the other hand, the MAS constructed using multiple LLMs demonstrates its ability to perform multi-step reasoning, derive equations, execute code, and generate explainable solutions for tasks that require calculation. These findings demonstrate the potential of applying RAG and MAS to enhance LLM performance for specialized courses in engineering curricula, providing a promising direction for developing intelligent tutoring in engineering education.
Writing With Machines and Peers: Designing for Critical Engagement with Generative AI
Zhu, Xinran, Wang, Cong, Searsmith, Duane
The growing integration of generative AI in higher education is transforming how students write, learn, and engage with knowledge. As AI tools become more integrated into classrooms, there is an urgent need for pedagogical approaches that help students use them critically and reflectively. This study proposes a pedagogical design that integrates AI and peer feedback in a graduate-level academic writing activity. Over eight weeks, students developed literature review projects through multiple writing and revision stages, receiving feedback from both a custom-built AI reviewer and human peers. We examine two questions: (1) How did students interact with and incorporate AI and peer feedback during the writing process? and (2) How did they reflect on and build relationships with both human and AI reviewers? Data sources include student writing artifacts, AI and peer feedback, AI chat logs, and student reflections. Findings show that students engaged differently with each feedback source-relying on AI for rubric alignment and surface-level edits, and on peer feedback for conceptual development and disciplinary relevance. Reflections revealed evolving relationships with AI, characterized by increasing confidence, strategic use, and critical awareness of its limitations. The pedagogical design supported writing development, AI literacy, and disciplinary understanding. This study offers a scalable pedagogical model for integrating AI into writing instruction and contributes insights for system-level approaches to fostering meaningful human-AI collaboration in higher education.
Connecting the Dots: A Machine Learning Ready Dataset for Ionospheric Forecasting Models
Wolniewicz, Linnea M., Kelebek, Halil S., Mestici, Simone, Vergalla, Michael D., Acciarini, Giacomo, Poduval, Bala, Verkhoglyadova, Olga, Guhathakurta, Madhulika, Berger, Thomas E., Baydin, Atılım Güneş, Soboczenski, Frank
Operational forecasting of the ionosphere remains a critical space weather challenge due to sparse observations, complex coupling across geospatial layers, and a growing need for timely, accurate predictions that support Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), communications, aviation safety, as well as satellite operations. As part of the 2025 NASA Heliolab, we present a curated, open-access dataset that integrates diverse ionospheric and heliospheric measurements into a coherent, machine learning-ready structure, designed specifically to support next-generation forecasting models and address gaps in current operational frameworks. Our workflow integrates a large selection of data sources comprising Solar Dynamic Observatory data, solar irradiance indices (F10.7), solar wind parameters (velocity and interplanetary magnetic field), geomagnetic activity indices (Kp, AE, SYM-H), and NASA JPL's Global Ionospheric Maps of Total Electron Content (GIM-TEC). We also implement geospatially sparse data such as the TEC derived from the World-Wide GNSS Receiver Network and crowdsourced Android smartphone measurements. This novel heterogeneous dataset is temporally and spatially aligned into a single, modular data structure that supports both physical and data-driven modeling. Leveraging this dataset, we train and benchmark several spatiotemporal machine learning architectures for forecasting vertical TEC under both quiet and geomagnetically active conditions. This work presents an extensive dataset and modeling pipeline that enables exploration of not only ionospheric dynamics but also broader Sun-Earth interactions, supporting both scientific inquiry and operational forecasting efforts.
Uncertainty-Resilient Multimodal Learning via Consistency-Guided Cross-Modal Transfer
Multimodal learning systems often face substantial uncertainty due to noisy data, low-quality labels, and heterogeneous modality characteristics. These issues become especially critical in human-computer interaction settings, where data quality, semantic reliability, and annotation consistency vary across users and recording conditions. This thesis tackles these challenges by exploring uncertainty-resilient multimodal learning through consistency-guided cross-modal transfer. The central idea is to use cross-modal semantic consistency as a basis for robust representation learning. By projecting heterogeneous modalities into a shared latent space, the proposed framework mitigates modality gaps and uncovers structural relations that support uncertainty estimation and stable feature learning. Building on this foundation, the thesis investigates strategies to enhance semantic robustness, improve data efficiency, and reduce the impact of noise and imperfect supervision without relying on large, high-quality annotations. Experiments on multimodal affect-recognition benchmarks demonstrate that consistency-guided cross-modal transfer significantly improves model stability, discriminative ability, and robustness to noisy or incomplete supervision. Latent space analyses further show that the framework captures reliable cross-modal structure even under challenging conditions. Overall, this thesis offers a unified perspective on resilient multimodal learning by integrating uncertainty modeling, semantic alignment, and data-efficient supervision, providing practical insights for developing reliable and adaptive brain-computer interface systems.