This work is concerned with conformal prediction in contemporary applications (including generative AI) where a black-box model has been trained on data that are not accessible to the user. Mirroring split-conformal inference, we design a wrapper around a black-box algorithm which calibrates conformity scores. This calibration is local and proceeds in two stages by first adaptively partitioning the predictor space into groups and then calibrating sectionally group by group. Adaptive partitioning (self-grouping) is achieved by fitting a robust regression tree to the conformity scores on the calibration set. This new tree variant is designed in such a way that adding a single new observation does not change the tree fit with overwhelmingly large probability. This add-one-in robustness property allows us to conclude a finite sample group-conditional coverage guarantee, a refinement of the marginal guarantee. In addition, unlike traditional split-conformal inference, adaptive splitting and within-group calibration yields adaptive bands which can stretch and shrink locally. We demonstrate benefits of local tightening on several simulated as well as real examples using non-parametric regression. Finally, we consider two contemporary classification applications for obtaining uncertainty quantification around GPT-4o predictions. We conformalize skin disease diagnoses based on self-reported symptoms as well as predicted states of U.S. legislators based on summaries of their ideology. We demonstrate substantial local tightening of the uncertainty sets while attaining similar marginal coverage.

Russia is putting generative artificial intelligence to work in online deception campaigns, but its efforts have been unsuccessful, according to a Meta security report released on Thursday. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram found that so far AI-powered tactics "provide only incremental productivity and content-generation gains" for bad actors and Meta has been able to disrupt deceptive influence operations. Meta's efforts to combat "coordinated inauthentic behavior" on its platforms come as fears mount that generative AI will be used to trick or confuse people in elections in the United States and other countries. Russia remains the top source of "coordinated inauthentic behavior" using bogus Facebook and Instagram accounts, David Agranovich, Meta's security policy director, told reporters. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, those efforts have been concentrated on undermining Ukraine and its allies, according to the report.

While there is a widespread belief that artificial general intelligence (AGI) -- or even superhuman AI -- is imminent, complex problems in expert domains are far from being solved. We argue that such problems require human-AI cooperation and that the current state of the art in generative AI is unable to play the role of a reliable partner due to a multitude of shortcomings, including inability to keep track of a complex solution artifact (e.g., a software program), limited support for versatile human preference expression and lack of adapting to human preference in an interactive setting. To address these challenges, we propose HAI-Co2, a novel human-AI co-construction framework. We formalize HAI-Co2 and discuss the difficult open research problems that it faces. Finally, we present a case study of HAI-Co2 and demonstrate its efficacy compared to monolithic generative AI models.

The conventional BIM authoring process typically requires designers to master complex and tedious modeling commands in order to materialize their design intentions within BIM authoring tools. This additional cognitive burden complicates the design process and hinders the adoption of BIM and model-based design in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) industry. To facilitate the expression of design intentions more intuitively, we propose Text2BIM, an LLM-based multi-agent framework that can generate 3D building models from natural language instructions. This framework orchestrates multiple LLM agents to collaborate and reason, transforming textual user input into imperative code that invokes the BIM authoring tool's APIs, thereby generating editable BIM models with internal layouts, external envelopes, and semantic information directly in the software. Furthermore, a rule-based model checker is introduced into the agentic workflow, utilizing predefined domain knowledge to guide the LLM agents in resolving issues within the generated models and iteratively improving model quality. Extensive experiments were conducted to compare and analyze the performance of three different LLMs under the proposed framework. The evaluation results demonstrate that our approach can effectively generate high-quality, structurally rational building models that are aligned with the abstract concepts specified by user input. Finally, an interactive software prototype was developed to integrate the framework into the BIM authoring software Vectorworks, showcasing the potential of modeling by chatting.

Image-to-Image translation in Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) has been a central focus of research, with applications spanning healthcare, remote sensing, physics, chemistry, photography, and more. Among the numerous methodologies, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) with contrastive learning have been particularly successful. This study aims to demonstrate that the Kolmogorov-Arnold Network (KAN) can effectively replace the Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) method in generative AI, particularly in the subdomain of image-to-image translation, to achieve better generative quality. Our novel approach replaces the two-layer MLP with a two-layer KAN in the existing Contrastive Unpaired Image-to-Image Translation (CUT) model, developing the KAN-CUT model. This substitution favors the generation of more informative features in low-dimensional vector representations, which contrastive learning can utilize more effectively to produce high-quality images in the target domain. Extensive experiments, detailed in the results section, demonstrate the applicability of KAN in conjunction with contrastive learning and GANs in Generative AI, particularly for image-to-image translation. This work suggests that KAN could be a valuable component in the broader generative AI domain.

The risks posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) are of considerable concern to academics, auditors, policymakers, AI companies, and the public. However, a lack of shared understanding of AI risks can impede our ability to comprehensively discuss, research, and react to them. This paper addresses this gap by creating an AI Risk Repository to serve as a common frame of reference. This comprises a living database of 777 risks extracted from 43 taxonomies, which can be filtered based on two overarching taxonomies and easily accessed, modified, and updated via our website and online spreadsheets. We construct our Repository with a systematic review of taxonomies and other structured classifications of AI risk followed by an expert consultation. We develop our taxonomies of AI risk using a best-fit framework synthesis. Our high-level Causal Taxonomy of AI Risks classifies each risk by its causal factors (1) Entity: Human, AI; (2) Intentionality: Intentional, Unintentional; and (3) Timing: Pre-deployment; Post-deployment. Our mid-level Domain Taxonomy of AI Risks classifies risks into seven AI risk domains: (1) Discrimination & toxicity, (2) Privacy & security, (3) Misinformation, (4) Malicious actors & misuse, (5) Human-computer interaction, (6) Socioeconomic & environmental, and (7) AI system safety, failures, & limitations. These are further divided into 23 subdomains. The AI Risk Repository is, to our knowledge, the first attempt to rigorously curate, analyze, and extract AI risk frameworks into a publicly accessible, comprehensive, extensible, and categorized risk database. This creates a foundation for a more coordinated, coherent, and complete approach to defining, auditing, and managing the risks posed by AI systems.

Image editing is an iterative process that requires precise visual evaluation and manipulation for the output to match the editing intent. However, current image editing tools do not provide accessible interaction nor sufficient feedback for blind and low vision individuals to achieve this level of control. To address this, we developed EditScribe, a prototype system that makes image editing accessible using natural language verification loops powered by large multimodal models. Using EditScribe, the user first comprehends the image content through initial general and object descriptions, then specifies edit actions using open-ended natural language prompts. EditScribe performs the image edit, and provides four types of verification feedback for the user to verify the performed edit, including a summary of visual changes, AI judgement, and updated general and object descriptions. The user can ask follow-up questions to clarify and probe into the edits or verification feedback, before performing another edit. In a study with ten blind or low-vision users, we found that EditScribe supported participants to perform and verify image edit actions non-visually. We observed different prompting strategies from participants, and their perceptions on the various types of verification feedback. Finally, we discuss the implications of leveraging natural language verification loops to make visual authoring non-visually accessible.

This pictorial aims to critically consider the nature of text-to-audio and text-to-music generative tools in the context of explainable AI. As a group of experimental musicians and researchers, we are enthusiastic about the creative potential of these tools and have sought to understand and evaluate them from perspectives of prompt creation, control, usability, understandability, explainability of the AI process, and overall aesthetic effectiveness of the results. One of the challenges we have identified that is not explicitly addressed by these tools is the inherent semantic gap in using text-based tools to describe something as abstract as music. Other gaps include explainability vs. useability, and user control and input vs. the human creative process. The aim of this pictorial is to raise questions for discussion and make a few general suggestions on the kinds of improvements we would like to see in generative AI music tools.

This study examines the impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) on academic research, focusing on its application to qualitative and quantitative data analysis. As GenAI tools evolve rapidly, they offer new possibilities for enhancing research productivity and democratising complex analytical processes. However, their integration into academic practice raises significant questions regarding research integrity and security, authorship, and the changing nature of scholarly work. Through an examination of current capabilities and potential future applications, this study provides insights into how researchers may utilise GenAI tools responsibly and ethically. We present case studies that demonstrate the application of GenAI in various research methodologies, discuss the challenges of replicability and consistency in AI-assisted research, and consider the ethical implications of increased AI integration in academia. This study explores both qualitative and quantitative applications of GenAI, highlighting tools for transcription, coding, thematic analysis, visual analytics, and statistical analysis. By addressing these issues, we aim to contribute to the ongoing discourse on the role of AI in shaping the future of academic research and provide guidance for researchers exploring the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-assisted research tools and research.

Topic Modeling has become a prominent tool for the study of scientific fields, as they allow for a large scale interpretation of research trends. Nevertheless, the output of these models is structured as a list of keywords which requires a manual interpretation for the labelling. This paper proposes to assess the reliability of three LLMs, namely flan, GPT-4o, and GPT-4 mini for topic labelling. Drawing on previous research leveraging BERTopic, we generate topics from a dataset of all the scientific articles (n=34,797) authored by all biology professors in Switzerland (n=465) between 2008 and 2020, as recorded in the Web of Science database. We assess the output of the three models both quantitatively and qualitatively and find that, first, both GPT models are capable of accurately and precisely label topics from the models' output keywords. Second, 3-word labels are preferable to grasp the complexity of research topics.