Large Language Model
CosyVoice 2: Scalable Streaming Speech Synthesis with Large Language Models
Du, Zhihao, Wang, Yuxuan, Chen, Qian, Shi, Xian, Lv, Xiang, Zhao, Tianyu, Gao, Zhifu, Yang, Yexin, Gao, Changfeng, Wang, Hui, Yu, Fan, Liu, Huadai, Sheng, Zhengyan, Gu, Yue, Deng, Chong, Wang, Wen, Zhang, Shiliang, Yan, Zhijie, Zhou, Jingren
In our previous work, we introduced CosyVoice, a multilingual speech synthesis model based on supervised discrete speech tokens. By employing progressive semantic decoding with two popular generative models, language models (LMs) and Flow Matching, CosyVoice demonstrated high prosody naturalness, content consistency, and speaker similarity in speech in-context learning. Recently, significant progress has been made in multi-modal large language models (LLMs), where the response latency and real-time factor of speech synthesis play a crucial role in the interactive experience. Therefore, in this report, we present an improved streaming speech synthesis model, CosyVoice 2, which incorporates comprehensive and systematic optimizations. Specifically, we introduce finite-scalar quantization to improve the codebook utilization of speech tokens. For the text-speech LM, we streamline the model architecture to allow direct use of a pre-trained LLM as the backbone. In addition, we develop a chunk-aware causal flow matching model to support various synthesis scenarios, enabling both streaming and non-streaming synthesis within a single model. By training on a large-scale multilingual dataset, CosyVoice 2 achieves human-parity naturalness, minimal response latency, and virtually lossless synthesis quality in the streaming mode.
PoTable: Programming Standardly on Table-based Reasoning Like a Human Analyst
Mao, Qingyang, Liu, Qi, Li, Zhi, Cheng, Mingyue, Zhang, Zheng, Li, Rui
Table-based reasoning has garnered substantial research interest, particularly in its integration with Large Language Model (LLM) which has revolutionized the general reasoning paradigm. Numerous LLM-based studies introduce symbolic tools (e.g., databases, Python) as assistants to extend human-like abilities in structured table understanding and complex arithmetic computations. However, these studies can be improved better in simulating human cognitive behavior when using symbolic tools, as they still suffer from limitations of non-standard logical splits and constrained operation pools. In this study, we propose PoTable as a novel table-based reasoning method that simulates a human tabular analyst, which integrates a Python interpreter as the real-time executor accompanied by an LLM-based operation planner and code generator. Specifically, PoTable follows a human-like logical stage split and extends the operation pool into an open-world space without any constraints. Through planning and executing in each distinct stage, PoTable standardly completes the entire reasoning process and produces superior reasoning results along with highly accurate, steply commented and completely executable programs. Accordingly, the effectiveness and explainability of PoTable are fully demonstrated. Extensive experiments over three evaluation datasets from two public benchmarks on two backbones show the outstanding performance of our approach. In particular, GPT-based PoTable achieves over 4% higher absolute accuracy than runner-ups on all evaluation datasets.
Protect Your Secrets: Understanding and Measuring Data Exposure in VSCode Extensions
Liu, Yue, Tantithamthavorn, Chakkrit, Li, Li
Recent years have witnessed the emerging trend of extensions in modern Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) like Visual Studio Code (VSCode) that significantly enhance developer productivity. Especially, popular AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot and Tabnine provide conveniences like automated code completion and debugging. While these extensions offer numerous benefits, they may introduce privacy and security concerns to software developers. However, there is no existing work that systematically analyzes the security and privacy concerns, including the risks of data exposure in VSCode extensions. In this paper, we investigate on the security issues of cross-extension interactions in VSCode and shed light on the vulnerabilities caused by data exposure among different extensions. Our study uncovers high-impact security flaws that could allow adversaries to stealthily acquire or manipulate credential-related data (e.g., passwords, API keys, access tokens) from other extensions if not properly handled by extension vendors. To measure their prevalence, we design a novel automated risk detection framework that leverages program analysis and natural language processing techniques to automatically identify potential risks in VSCode extensions. By applying our tool to 27,261 real-world VSCode extensions, we discover that 8.5% of them (i.e., 2,325 extensions) are exposed to credential-related data leakage through various vectors, such as commands, user input, and configurations. Our study sheds light on the security challenges and flaws of the extension-in-IDE paradigm and provides suggestions and recommendations for improving the security of VSCode extensions and mitigating the risks of data exposure.
Large Language Models for Constructing and Optimizing Machine Learning Workflows: A Survey
Gu, Yang, You, Hengyu, Cao, Jian, Yu, Muran, Fan, Haoran, Qian, Shiyou
In the era of big data, machine learning (ML) workflows have become essential across various sectors for processing and analyzing large-scale data Xin et al. [2021], Nikitin et al. [2022]. To support the development and sharing of ML workflows, numerous repositories have been established, showcasing diverse paradigms for data analysis. For instance, KNIME offers a repository with over 25,000 workflows and 2,200 components Ordenes and Silipo [2021], providing a comprehensive collection of rigorously tested, practical models complete with detailed specifications. However, despite the availability of these resources, manually constructing and optimizing workflows to meet complex task requirements remains a knowledge-intensive and time-consuming challenge for most people. The advent of Large Language Models (LLMs) has recently revolutionized artificial intelligence (AI) and ML, delivering advanced capabilities in natural language understanding and generation Hollmann et al. [2024], Wang et al. [2024a]. Models such as OpenAI's GPT-4 Achiam et al. [2023] and Meta AI's LLaMA-3 Touvron et al. [2023] have demonstrated exceptional performance across a wide range of natural language processing (NLP) tasks, thanks to their extensive training on large-scale text datasets. Additionally, multimodal LLMs Hu et al. [2024], Tai et al. [2024], Luo et al. [2024], which incorporate various data types like audio and images, allow for richer interactions by processing and generating non-textual information. Their impressive capabilities have led to widespread adoption across multiple domains Gu et al. [2023], Klievtsova et al. [2023], Zhang et al. [2023a].
ReverseNER: A Self-Generated Example-Driven Framework for Zero-Shot Named Entity Recognition with Large Language Models
Wang, Anbang, Mei, Difei, Zhang, Zhichao, Bai, Xiuxiu, Yao, Ran, Fang, Zewen, Hu, Min, Cao, Zhirui, Sun, Haitao, Guo, Yifeng, Zhou, Hongyao, Guo, Yu
This paper presents ReverseNER, a method aimed at overcoming the limitation of large language models (LLMs) in zero-shot named entity recognition (NER) tasks, arising from their reliance on pre-provided demonstrations. ReverseNER tackles this challenge by constructing a reliable example library composed of dozens of entity-labeled sentences, generated through the reverse process of NER. Specifically, while conventional NER methods label entities in a sentence, ReverseNER features reversing the process by using an LLM to generate entities from their definitions and subsequently expand them into full sentences. During the entity expansion process, the LLM is guided to generate sentences by replicating the structures of a set of specific \textsl{feature sentences}, extracted from the task sentences by clustering. This expansion process produces dozens of entity-labeled task-relevant sentences. After constructing the example library, the method selects several semantically similar entity-labeled examples for each task sentence as references to facilitate the LLM's entity recognition. We also propose an entity-level self-consistency scoring mechanism to improve NER performance with LLMs. Experiments show that ReverseNER significantly outperforms other zero-shot NER methods with LLMs, marking a notable improvement in NER for domains without labeled data, while declining computational resource consumption.
Unveiling Uncertainty: A Deep Dive into Calibration and Performance of Multimodal Large Language Models
Chen, Zijun, Hu, Wenbo, He, Guande, Deng, Zhijie, Zhang, Zheng, Hong, Richang
Multimodal large language models (MLLMs) combine visual and textual data for tasks such as image captioning and visual question answering. Proper uncertainty calibration is crucial, yet challenging, for reliable use in areas like healthcare and autonomous driving. This paper investigates representative MLLMs, focusing on their calibration across various scenarios, including before and after visual fine-tuning, as well as before and after multimodal training of the base LLMs. We observed miscalibration in their performance, and at the same time, no significant differences in calibration across these scenarios. We also highlight how uncertainty differs between text and images and how their integration affects overall uncertainty. To better understand MLLMs' miscalibration and their ability to self-assess uncertainty, we construct the IDK (I don't know) dataset, which is key to evaluating how they handle unknowns. Our findings reveal that MLLMs tend to give answers rather than admit uncertainty, but this self-assessment improves with proper prompt adjustments. Finally, to calibrate MLLMs and enhance model reliability, we propose techniques such as temperature scaling and iterative prompt optimization. Our results provide insights into improving MLLMs for effective and responsible deployment in multimodal applications. Code and IDK dataset: https://github.com/hfutml/Calibration-MLLM.
AI Models Are Getting Smarter. New Tests Are Racing to Catch Up
Despite their expertise, AI developers don't always know what their most advanced systems are capable of--at least, not at first. To find out, systems are subjected to a range of tests--often called evaluations, or'evals'--designed to tease out their limits. But due to rapid progress in the field, today's systems regularly achieve top scores on many popular tests, including SATs and the U.S. bar exam, making it harder to judge just how quickly they are improving. A new set of much more challenging evals has emerged in response, created by companies, nonprofits, and governments. Yet even on the most advanced evals, AI systems are making astonishing progress.
Did you know Windows 11 Pro is only 20?
Remember when Windows 10 first came out? Those were the good old days. It seemed like they'd last forever. Windows 11 Pro is an advanced operating system edition designed for professional and business users. However, it can help anyone boost their productivity with top tools like its latest Microsoft Copilot AI Assistant.
ChatGPT search tool vulnerable to manipulation and deception, tests show
OpenAI's ChatGPT search tool may be open to manipulation using hidden content, and can return malicious code from websites it searches, a Guardian investigation has found. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. OpenAI has made the search product available to paying customers and is encouraging users to make it their default search tool. But the investigation has revealed potential security issues with the new system.
Windows users, this is one upgrade you won't want to miss
Sale ends January 12 at 11:59 p.m. PT. There's a lot to love about Microsoft's recently updated operating system. Besides enhanced security features and a more user-friendly interface, it incorporates AI to make it a modern powerhouse. Its new AI assistant, Copilot, uses a custom version of GPT-4 called GPT-4 Turbo to help you automate tasks and processes. It's like getting the paid version of ChatGPT built into your OS.