Deep Learning
Diffusion^2: Turning 3D Environments into Radio Frequency Heatmaps
Park, Kyoungjun, Yang, Yifan, Ge, Changhan, Qiu, Lili, Jiang, Shiqi
Modeling radio frequency (RF) signal propagation is essential for understanding the environment, as RF signals offer valuable insights beyond the capabilities of RGB cameras, which are limited by the visible-light spectrum, lens coverage, and occlusions. It is also useful for supporting wireless diagnosis, deployment, and optimization. However, accurately predicting RF signals in complex environments remains a challenge due to interactions with obstacles such as absorption and reflection. We introduce Diffusion^2, a diffusion-based approach that uses 3D point clouds to model the propagation of RF signals across a wide range of frequencies, from Wi-Fi to millimeter waves. To effectively capture RF-related features from 3D data, we present the RF-3D Encoder, which encapsulates the complexities of 3D geometry along with signal-specific details. These features undergo multi-scale embedding to simulate the actual RF signal dissemination process. Our evaluation, based on synthetic and real-world measurements, demonstrates that Diffusion^2 accurately estimates the behavior of RF signals in various frequency bands and environmental conditions, with an error margin of just 1.9 dB and 27x faster than existing methods, marking a significant advancement in the field. Refer to https://rfvision-project.github.io/ for more information.
Generating Findings for Jaw Cysts in Dental Panoramic Radiographs Using GPT-4o: Building a Two-Stage Self-Correction Loop with Structured Output (SLSO) Framework
Hosokawa, Nanaka, Takahashi, Ryo, Kitano, Tomoya, Iida, Yukihiro, Muramatsu, Chisako, Hayashi, Tatsuro, Seino, Yuta, Zhou, Xiangrong, Hara, Takeshi, Katsumata, Akitoshi, Fujita, Hiroshi
In this study, we utilized the multimodal capabilities of OpenAI GPT-4o to automatically generate jaw cyst findings on dental panoramic radiographs. To improve accuracy, we constructed a Self-correction Loop with Structured Output (SLSO) framework and verified its effectiveness. A 10-step process was implemented for 22 cases of jaw cysts, including image input and analysis, structured data generation, tooth number extraction and consistency checking, iterative regeneration when inconsistencies were detected, and finding generation with subsequent restructuring and consistency verification. A comparative experiment was conducted using the conventional Chain-of-Thought (CoT) method across seven evaluation items: transparency, internal structure, borders, root resorption, tooth movement, relationships with other structures, and tooth number. The results showed that the proposed SLSO framework improved output accuracy for many items, with 66.9%, 33.3%, and 28.6% improvement rates for tooth number, tooth movement, and root resorption, respectively. In the successful cases, a consistently structured output was achieved after up to five regenerations. Although statistical significance was not reached because of the small size of the dataset, the overall SLSO framework enforced negative finding descriptions, suppressed hallucinations, and improved tooth number identification accuracy. However, the accurate identification of extensive lesions spanning multiple teeth is limited. Nevertheless, further refinement is required to enhance overall performance and move toward a practical finding generation system.
Rethinking KL Regularization in RLHF: From Value Estimation to Gradient Optimization
Liu, Kezhao, Liu, Jason Klein, Chen, Mingtao, Liu, Yiming
Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) leverages a Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence loss to stabilize training and prevent overfitting. However, in methods such as GRPO, its implementation may be guided by principles from numerical value estimation-a practice that overlooks the term's functional role as an optimization loss. To analyze this issue, we establish a unified framework that connects two seemingly distinct implementation styles: using the mathematical term $k_n$ as a detached coefficient for the policy's score function ('$k_n$ in reward') or as a direct loss function through which gradients are propagated ('$k_n$ as loss'). We show that the latter can always be analyzed via an equivalent gradient coefficient in the former, unifying the two perspectives. Through this framework, we prove that the conventional '$k_1$ in reward' (like in PPO) is the principled loss for Reverse KL (RKL) regularization. We further establish a key finding: under on-policy conditions, the '$k_2$ as loss' formulation is, in fact, gradient-equivalent to '$k_1$ in reward'. This equivalence, first proven in our work, identifies both as the theoretically sound implementations of the RKL objective. In contrast, we show that the recently adopted '$k_3$ as loss' (like in GRPO) is merely a first-order, biased approximation of the principled loss. Furthermore, we argue that common off-policy implementations of '$k_n$ as loss' methods are biased due to neglected importance sampling, and we propose a principled correction. Our findings provide a comprehensive, gradient-based rationale for choosing and correctly implementing KL regularization, paving the way for more robust and effective RLHF systems.
Latent Thinking Optimization: Your Latent Reasoning Language Model Secretly Encodes Reward Signals in Its Latent Thoughts
Du, Hanwen, Dong, Yuxin, Ning, Xia
Large Language Models (LLMs) excel at problem solving by generating chain of thoughts in natural language, but such verbal thinking is computationally costly and prone to overthinking. Recent work instead proposes a latent thinking architecture Huginn-3.5B, which represents intermediate reasoning steps as sequence of latent representations. However, latent thoughts lack interpretability and are difficult to supervise, raising concerns about the correctness and reliability of its latent thinking processes. In this paper, we provide a systematic study of how Huginn-3.5B thinks in the latent space and how external supervision signals can improve its latent thinking processes. We show that latent thoughts leading to correct versus incorrect answers exhibit highly distinguishable patterns, and that a latent classifier can reliably predict answer correctness directly from latent thoughts. Leveraging these insights, we propose Latent Thinking Optimization (LTO), a probabilistic algorithm that employs the latent classifier as a Latent Reward Model (LRM) to optimize the latent thinking processes. Extensive experiments across diverse reasoning tasks demonstrate that LRM is highly effective in detecting incorrect latent thinking patterns, and LTO can significantly improve the latent thinking processes. Furthermore, we show that LRM can generalize across diverse domains, and LTO can be seamlessly applied to general LLMs to improve their thinking processes. In contrast to verbal thinking, our method demonstrates that reward modeling and scaling test-time thinking with supervision can be performed directly in the latent space, highlighting its potential as a general, efficient, and domain-agnostic approach to improving the thinking processes of LLMs.
HeLoM: Hierarchical Learning for Whole-Body Loco-Manipulation in Hexapod Robot
Yang, Xinrong, Li, Peizhuo, Li, Hongyi, Lu, Junkai, Chang, Linnan, Cao, Yuhong, Zhang, Yifeng, Sun, Ge, Sartoretti, Guillaume
Robots in real-world environments are often required to move/manipulate objects comparable in weight to their own bodies. Compared to grasping and carrying, pushing provides a more straightforward and efficient non-prehensile manipulation strategy, avoiding complex grasp design while leveraging direct contact to regulate an object's pose. Achieving effective pushing, however, demands both sufficient manipulation forces and the ability to maintain stability, which is particularly challenging when dealing with heavy or irregular objects. To address these challenges, we propose HeLoM, a learning-based hierarchical whole-body manipulation framework for a hexapod robot that exploits coordinated multi-limb control. Inspired by the cooperative strategies of multi-legged insects, our framework leverages redundant contact points and high degrees of freedom to enable dynamic redistribution of contact forces. HeLoM's high-level planner plans pushing behaviors and target object poses, while its low-level controller maintains locomotion stability and generates dynamically consistent joint actions. Our policies trained in simulation are directly deployed on real robots without additional fine-tuning. This design allows the robot to maintain balance while exerting continuous and controllable pushing forces through coordinated foreleg interaction and supportive hind-leg propulsion. We validate the effectiveness of HeLoM through both simulation and real-world experiments. Results show that our framework can stably push boxes of varying sizes and unknown physical properties to designated goal poses in the real world.
ML2B: Multi-Lingual ML Benchmark For AutoML
Trofimova, Ekaterina, Shamina, Zosia, Selifanova, Maria, Zaitsev, Artem, Savchuk, Remi, Minets, Maxim, Ozerova, Daria, Sataev, Emil, Zuenko, Denis, Ustyuzhanin, Andrey E.
Large language models (LLMs) have recently demonstrated strong capabilities in generating machine learning (ML) code, enabling end-to-end pipeline construction from natural language instructions. However, existing benchmarks for ML code generation are mainly restricted to English, overlooking the global and multilingual nature of ML research and practice. To address this gap, we present ML2B, the first benchmark for evaluating multilingual ML code generation. ML2B consists of 30 Kaggle competitions translated into 13 natural languages, covering tabular, text, and image data types, with structured metadata and validated human-reviewed translations. For evaluation, we employ AIDE, an automated framework for end-to-end assessment of data science pipelines, and provide insights into cross-lingual model performance. Our results reveal substantial 15-45% performance degradation on non-English tasks, highlighting critical challenges in multilingual representation learning for code generation. The benchmark, evaluation framework, and comprehensive results are made available through our GitHub repository to facilitate future research in multilingual ML code generation: https://github.com/enaix/ml2b.
Fine-Grained AI Model Caching and Downloading With Coordinated Multipoint Broadcasting in Multi-Cell Edge Networks
Fu, Yang, Qin, Peng, Zhang, Yueyue, Cheng, Pao, Lu, Jun, Wang, Yifei
6G networks are envisioned to support on-demand AI model downloading to accommodate diverse inference requirements of end users. By proactively caching models at edge nodes, users can retrieve the requested models with low latency for on-device AI inference. However, the substantial size of contemporary AI models poses significant challenges for edge caching under limited storage capacity, as well as for the concurrent delivery of heterogeneous models over wireless channels. To address these challenges, we propose a fine-grained AI model caching and downloading system that exploits parameter reusability, stemming from the common practice of fine-tuning task-specific models from a shared pre-trained model with frozen parameters. This system selectively caches model parameter blocks (PBs) at edge nodes, eliminating redundant storage of reusable parameters across different cached models. Additionally, it incorporates coordinated multipoint (CoMP) broadcasting to simultaneously deliver reusable PBs to multiple users, thereby enhancing downlink spectrum utilization. Under this arrangement, we formulate a model downloading delay minimization problem to jointly optimize PB caching, migration (among edge nodes), and broadcasting beamforming. To tackle this intractable problem, we develop a distributed multi-agent learning framework that enables edge nodes to explicitly learn mutual influence among their actions, thereby facilitating cooperation. Furthermore, a data augmentation approach is proposed to adaptively generate synthetic training samples through a predictive model, boosting sample efficiency and accelerating policy learning. Both theoretical analysis and simulation experiments validate the superior convergence performance of the proposed learning framework.
Large Language Model Hacking: Quantifying the Hidden Risks of Using LLMs for Text Annotation
Baumann, Joachim, Rรถttger, Paul, Urman, Aleksandra, Wendsjรถ, Albert, Plaza-del-Arco, Flor Miriam, Gruber, Johannes B., Hovy, Dirk
Large language models are rapidly transforming social science research by enabling the automation of labor-intensive tasks like data annotation and text analysis. However, LLM outputs vary significantly depending on the implementation choices made by researchers (e.g., model selection or prompting strategy). Such variation can introduce systematic biases and random errors, which propagate to downstream analyses and cause Type I (false positive), Type II (false negative), Type S (wrong sign), or Type M (exaggerated effect) errors. We call this phenomenon where configuration choices lead to incorrect conclusions LLM hacking. We find that intentional LLM hacking is strikingly simple. By replicating 37 data annotation tasks from 21 published social science studies, we show that, with just a handful of prompt paraphrases, virtually anything can be presented as statistically significant. Beyond intentional manipulation, our analysis of 13 million labels from 18 different LLMs across 2361 realistic hypotheses shows that there is also a high risk of accidental LLM hacking, even when following standard research practices. We find incorrect conclusions in approximately 31% of hypotheses for state-of-the-art LLMs, and in half the hypotheses for smaller language models. While higher task performance and stronger general model capabilities reduce LLM hacking risk, even highly accurate models remain susceptible. The risk of LLM hacking decreases as effect sizes increase, indicating the need for more rigorous verification of LLM-based findings near significance thresholds. We analyze 21 mitigation techniques and find that human annotations provide crucial protection against false positives. Common regression estimator correction techniques can restore valid inference but trade off Type I vs. Type II errors. We publish a list of practical recommendations to prevent LLM hacking.
The Telephone Game: Evaluating Semantic Drift in Unified Models
Mollah, Sabbir, Gupta, Rohit, Swetha, Sirnam, Liu, Qingyang, Munir, Ahnaf, Shah, Mubarak
At every step we observe semantic drift. For example, in the 5th generation, the model fails to generate a convincing suitcase, which also hints at cross-inconsistency. These phenomena are magnified under the multi-generation telephone game evaluation, allowing it to capture more subtle performance differences between models. Employing a single, unified model (UM) for both visual understanding (image-to-text: I2T) and visual generation (text-to-image: T2I) has opened a new direction in Visual Language Model (VLM) research. While UMs can also support broader unimodal tasks (e.g., text-to-text, image-to-image), we focus on the core cross-modal pair T2I and I2T. Existing evaluation benchmarks consider these capabilities in isolation: FID and GenEval for T2I, and benchmarks such as MME, MMBench for I2T. These isolated single-pass metrics do not reveal cross-consistency: whether a model that "understands" a concept can also "render" it, nor whether semantic meaning is preserved when cycling between image and text modalities. To address this, we introduce the Semantic Drift Protocol (SDP) for Unified Models, a cyclic evaluation protocol that alternates I2T and T2I over multiple generations to quantify semantic drift. We propose two metrics: (i) Mean Cumulative Drift (MCD), an embedding-based measure of overall semantic drift; and (ii) Multi-Generation GenEval (MGG), an object-level compliance score extending GenEval. To assess generalization beyond COCO dataset, which is widely used in training; we create a new benchmark Nocaps+Docci400, sampled from NoCaps and DOCCI and evaluated on seven recent models. SDP reveals substantial variation in cross-modal stability: some models like BAGEL maintain semantic meaning over many alternations, whereas others like VILA-U drift quickly despite strong single-pass scores. Our results highlight SDP as a necessary complement to standard I2T and T2I evaluations. Multimodal Unified Models (UMs) combine visual understanding and generation within a single framework, enabling a wide range of unimodal tasks (e.g., text-to-text, image-to-image) as well as cross-modal tasks (e.g., image-to-text, text-to-image). Despite rapid model progress, UM evaluation remains fragmented. In other words, current single-pass metrics do not assess the retention of entities, attributes, relations, and counts under alternating I2T T2I conversions. We defer unimodal tasks and center our analysis on I2T and T2I tasks as the potential for semantic divergence and its impact on real use is most pronounced on the cross-modal tasks.
Flexible metadata harvesting for ecology using large language models
Lu, Zehao, van der Plas, Thijs L, Rashidi, Parinaz, Kissling, W Daniel, Athanasiadis, Ioannis N
Large, open datasets can accelerate ecological research, particularly by enabling researchers to develop new insights by reusing datasets from multiple sources. However, to find the most suitable datasets to combine and integrate, researchers must navigate diverse ecological and environmental data provider platforms with varying metadata availability and standards. To overcome this obstacle, we have developed a large language model (LLM)-based metadata harvester that flexibly extracts metadata from any dataset's landing page, and converts these to a user-defined, unified format using existing metadata standards. We validate that our tool is able to extract both structured and unstructured metadata with equal accuracy, aided by our LLM post-processing protocol. Furthermore, we utilise LLMs to identify links between datasets, both by calculating embedding similarity and by unifying the formats of extracted metadata to enable rule-based processing. Our tool, which flexibly links the metadata of different datasets, can therefore be used for ontology creation or graph-based queries, for example, to find relevant ecological and environmental datasets in a virtual research environment.