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LLM-Powered Swarms: A New Frontier or a Conceptual Stretch?
Rahman, Muhammad Atta Ur, Schranz, Melanie, Hayat, Samira
--Swarm intelligence describes how simple, decentralized agents can collectively produce complex behaviors. Recently, the concept of swarming has been extended to large language model (LLM)-powered systems, such as OpenAI's Swarm (OAS) framework, where agents coordinate through natural language prompts. Using OAS, we implement and compare classical and LLMbased versions of two well-established swarm algorithms: Boids and Ant Colony Optimization. Results indicate that while LLMpowered swarms can emulate swarm-like dynamics, they are constrained by substantial computational overhead. For instance, our LLM-based Boids simulation required roughly 300 more computation time than its classical counterpart, highlighting current limitations in applying LLM-driven swarms to real-time systems. W ARM intelligence continues to attract significant attention from researchers and engineers. In nature, swarming systems exist as flocks of birds, schools of fish, and colonies of ants, where they are characterized by local interactions among agents following simple rules. These interactions give rise to global patterns and adaptive behaviors that are greater than the sum of their parts [1]. However, the term "swarm" has recently been appropriated in novel contexts, such as OpenAI's Swarm (OAS) framework [2], where the dynamics and mechanisms differ from their traditional counterparts. This paper explores the differences, examining how the principles that define classical swarm algorithms translate, or fail to translate, within large language model (LLM)-based systems such as OAS, which is selected as a representative framework for LLM-powered swarms in this paper.
TACO: Trajectory-Aware Controller Optimization for Quadrotors
Sanghvi, Hersh, Folk, Spencer, Kumar, Vijay, Taylor, Camillo Jose
Abstract-- Controller performance in quadrotor trajectory tracking depends heavily on parameter tuning, yet standard approaches often rely on fixed, manually tuned parameters that sacrifice task-specific performance. We present Trajectory-A ware Controller Optimization (T ACO), a framework that adapts controller parameters online based on the upcoming reference trajectory and current quadrotor state. T ACO employs a learned predictive model and a lightweight optimization scheme to optimize controller gains in real time with respect to a broad class of trajectories, and can also be used to adapt trajectories to improve dynamic feasibility while respecting smoothness constraints. T o enable large-scale training, we also introduce a parallelized quadrotor simulator supporting fast data collection on diverse trajectories. Experiments on a variety of trajectory types show that T ACO outperforms conventional, static parameter tuning while operating orders of magnitude faster than black-box optimization baselines, enabling practical real-time deployment on a physical quadrotor . Furthermore, we show that adapting trajectories using T ACO significantly reduces the tracking error obtained by the quadrotor .
TACOS: Open Tagging and Comparative Scoring for Instruction Fine-Tuning Data Selection
He, Xixiang, Yu, Hao, Sun, Qiyao, Cheng, Ao, Zhang, Tailai, Liu, Cong, Guo, Shuxuan
Instruction Fine-Tuning (IFT) is crucial for aligning large language models (LLMs) with human preferences, and selecting a small yet representative subset from massive data significantly facilitates IFT in terms of both efficiency and effectiveness. Nevertheless, existing approaches suffer from two limitations: the use of simple heuristics restricts data diversity, while the singleton data quality evaluation accounts for inconsistent criteria between independent samples. To address the issues, we present TACOS, an innovative method that integrates Open Tagging and Comparative Scoring for IFT data selection. To capture data diversity, we leverage LLMs to assign open-domain tags to human queries, followed by a normalization stage to denoise the open tags and enable efficient clustering. Additionally, we suggest a comparative scoring method that allows the relative quality evaluation of samples within a cluster, avoiding inconsistent criteria seen in singleton-based evaluations. Extensive experiments across diverse datasets and LLM architectures demonstrate that TACOS outperforms existing approaches by a large margin. Notably, it achieves superior instruction-following performance on MT-Bench and ranks 1st among LLaMA2-7B-Based models on AlpacaEval 2.0, illustrating its efficacy for IFT data selection.
TACO: Enhancing Multimodal In-context Learning via Task Mapping-Guided Sequence Configuration
Li, Yanshu, Yang, Jianjiang, Yun, Tian, Feng, Pinyuan, Huang, Jinfa, Tang, Ruixiang
Multimodal in-context learning (ICL) has emerged as a key mechanism for harnessing the capabilities of large vision-language models (LVLMs). However, its effectiveness remains highly sensitive to the quality of input ICL sequences, particularly for tasks involving complex reasoning or open-ended generation. A major limitation is our limited understanding of how LVLMs actually exploit these sequences during inference. To bridge this gap, we systematically interpret multimodal ICL through the lens of task mapping, which reveals how local and global relationships within and among demonstrations guide model reasoning. Building on this insight, we present TACO, a lightweight transformer-based model equipped with task-aware attention that dynamically configures ICL sequences. By injecting task-mapping signals into the autoregressive decoding process, TACO creates a bidirectional synergy between sequence construction and task reasoning. Experiments on five LVLMs and nine datasets demonstrate that TACO consistently surpasses baselines across diverse ICL tasks. These results position task mapping as a novel and valuable perspective for interpreting and improving multimodal ICL.
Taxonomy of Comprehensive Safety for Clinical Agents
Seo, Jean, Lee, Hyunkyung, Kim, Gibaeg, Han, Wooseok, Yoo, Jaehyo, Lim, Seungseop, Shin, Kihun, Yang, Eunho
Safety is a paramount concern in clinical chatbot applications, where inaccurate or harmful responses can lead to serious consequences. Existing methods--such as guardrails and tool calling--often fall short in addressing the nuanced demands of the clinical domain. In this paper, we introduce TACOS (TAxonomy of COmprehensive Safety for Clinical Agents), a fine-grained, 21-class taxonomy that integrates safety filtering and tool selection into a single user intent classification step. TACOS is a taxonomy that can cover a wide spectrum of clinical and non-clinical queries, explicitly modeling varying safety thresholds and external tool dependencies. To validate our taxonomy, we curate a TACOS-annotated dataset and perform extensive experiments. Our results demonstrate the value of a new taxonomy specialized for clinical agent settings, and reveal useful insights about train data distribution and pretrained knowledge of base models.
Adaptive Planning for Multi-Attribute Controllable Summarization with Monte Carlo Tree Search
Ryu, Sangwon, Do, Heejin, Kim, Yunsu, Lee, Gary Geunbae, Ok, Jungseul
Controllable summarization moves beyond generic outputs toward human-aligned summaries guided by specified attributes. In practice, the interdependence among attributes makes it challenging for language models to satisfy correlated constraints consistently. Moreover, previous approaches often require per-attribute fine-tuning, limiting flexibility across diverse summary attributes. In this paper, we propose adaptive planning for multi-attribute controllable summarization (PACO), a training-free framework that reframes the task as planning the order of sequential attribute control with a customized Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS). In PACO, nodes represent summaries, and actions correspond to single-attribute adjustments, enabling progressive refinement of only the attributes requiring further control. This strategy adaptively discovers optimal control orders, ultimately producing summaries that effectively meet all constraints. Extensive experiments across diverse domains and models demonstrate that PACO achieves robust multi-attribute controllability, surpassing both LLM-based self-planning models and fine-tuned baselines. Remarkably, PACO with Llama-3.2-1B rivals the controllability of the much larger Llama-3.3-70B baselines. With larger models, PACO achieves superior control performance, outperforming all competitors.
Comparative Analysis of Ant Colony Optimization and Google OR-Tools for Solving the Open Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem in Logistics
Omar, Assem, Omar, Youssef, Solayman, Marwa, Mansour, Hesham
In modern logistics management systems, route planning requires high efficiency. The Open Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (OCVRP) deals with finding optimal delivery routes for a fleet of vehicles serving geographically distributed customers, without requiring the vehicles to return to the depot after deliveries. The present study is comparative in nature and speaks of two algorithms for OCVRP solution: Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), a nature-inspired metaheuristic; and Google OR-Tools, an industry-standard toolkit for optimization. Both implementations were developed in Python and using a custom dataset. Performance appraisal was based on routing efficiency, computation time, and scalability. The results show that ACO allows flexibility in routing parameters while OR-Tools runs much faster with more consistency and requires less input. This could help choose among routing strategies for scalable real-time logistics systems.
A Review on Influx of Bio-Inspired Algorithms: Critique and Improvement Needs
Somvanshi, Shriyank, Islam, Md Monzurul, Javed, Syed Aaqib, Chhetri, Gaurab, Islam, Kazi Sifatul, Chowdhury, Tausif Islam, Polock, Sazzad Bin Bashar, Dutta, Anandi, Das, Subasish
Bio-inspired algorithms utilize natural processes such as evolution, swarm behavior, foraging, and plant growth to solve complex, nonlinear, high-dimensional optimization problems. However, a plethora of these algorithms require a more rigorous review before making them applicable to the relevant fields. This survey categorizes these algorithms into eight groups: evolutionary, swarm intelligence, physics-inspired, ecosystem and plant-based, predator-prey, neural-inspired, human-inspired, and hybrid approaches, and reviews their principles, strengths, novelty, and critical limitations. We provide a critique on the novelty issues of many of these algorithms. We illustrate some of the suitable usage of the prominent algorithms in machine learning, engineering design, bioinformatics, and intelligent systems, and highlight recent advances in hybridization, parameter tuning, and adaptive strategies. Finally, we identify open challenges such as scalability, convergence, reliability, and interpretability to suggest directions for future research. This work aims to serve as a resource for both researchers and practitioners interested in understanding the current landscape and future directions of reliable and authentic advancement of bio-inspired algorithms.
Survey of Swarm Intelligence Approaches to Search Documents Based On Semantic Similarity
Muniyappa, Chandrashekar, Kim, Eunjin
Swarm Intelligence (SI) is gaining a lot of popularity in artificial intelligence, where the natural behavior of animals and insects is observed and translated into computer algorithms called swarm computing to solve real-world problems. Due to their effectiveness, they are applied in solving various computer optimization problems. This survey will review all the latest developments in Searching for documents based on semantic similarity using Swarm Intelligence algorithms and recommend future research directions.
CPP-DIP: Multi-objective Coverage Path Planning for MAVs in Dispersed and Irregular Plantations
Kuang, Weijie, Ho, Hann Woei, Zhou, Ye
Coverage Path Planning (CPP) is vital in precision agriculture to improve efficiency and resource utilization. In irregular and dispersed plantations, traditional grid-based CPP often causes redundant coverage over non-vegetated areas, leading to waste and pollution. To overcome these limitations, we propose CPP-DIP, a multi-objective CPP framework designed for Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). The framework transforms the CPP task into a Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) and optimizes flight paths by minimizing travel distance, turning angles, and intersection counts. Unlike conventional approaches, our method does not rely on GPS-based environmental modeling. Instead, it uses aerial imagery and a Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG)-based approach to detect trees and extract image coordinates. A density-aware waypoint strategy is applied: Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) is used to reduce redundant waypoints in dense regions, while a greedy algorithm ensures complete coverage in sparse areas. To verify the generality of the framework, we solve the resulting TSP using three different methods: Greedy Heuristic Insertion (GHI), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), and Monte Carlo Reinforcement Learning (MCRL). Then an object-based optimization is applied to further refine the resulting path. Additionally, CPP-DIP integrates ForaNav, our insect-inspired navigation method, for accurate tree localization and tracking. The experimental results show that MCRL offers a balanced solution, reducing the travel distance by 16.9 % compared to ACO while maintaining a similar performance to GHI. It also improves path smoothness by reducing turning angles by 28.3 % and 59.9 % relative to ACO and GHI, respectively, and effectively eliminates intersections. These results confirm the robustness and effectiveness of CPP-DIP in different TSP solvers.