Small Vision-Language Models (VLMs) provide a computationally efficient alternative to larger models, at the cost of weaker generalization abilities and downstream task performance. These shortcomings could be addressed by test-time scaling techniques, but existing methods are typically computationally demanding, contradicting the resource-efficient design goals of small models. To address these limitations, we propose two novel and efficient test-time scaling strategies that leverage the model-internal features rather than external supervision: (i) Test-Time Augmentation (TTAug), which generates multiple augmented inputs and aggregates outputs at the token level without parameter updates, and (ii) Test-Time Adaptation (TTAdapt), which adapts model parameters during inference using consensus-based pseudolabels from TTAug. Through extensive experiments across nine benchmarks, we demonstrate consistent performance improvements while maintaining computational efficiency suitable for resource-constrained environments. The generality of our approach is demonstrated both within models at different scales and across different VLMs without additional tuning.

An honorable mention to the AI podcast by Lex Fridman for interviewing such inspiring scientists and pioneers in the world of AI, was definitely an inspiration to this particular post on this blog.

The late Stephen Hawking did not believe in an afterlife, but he has one all the same. He has appeared as a co-author in two posthumous research papers since he died in March. One takes a fresh look at the problem of just how complex the universe far beyond our horizon could be; the other returns to the intractable but apparently not entirely insoluble problem of what happens to information once it falls into a black hole. This second paper is a response to a paradox that concerns only theoretical physicists but the first addresses the machinery of creation that seems to have needed no creator. Not surprisingly, he returns to both themes and many more in what his publishers call his final thoughts.

With the publication of his final book, Professor Stephen Hawking has revealed his answers to 10 'fundamental questions' he was constantly being asked. Now, his last'profound realisation' has been revealed- and he says that there is no afterlife or supreme being. Shortly before his death, Professor Stephen Hawking began compiling the answers to 10 'fundamental questions' he was constantly being asked. 'We are each free to believe what we want, and it's my view that the simplest explanation is that there is no God,' he said, according to The Telegraph. 'No one created the universe and no one directors out fate.