While instructions fine-tuning of large language models (LLMs) has been proven to enhance performance across various applications, the influence of the instruction dataset mixture on LLMs has not been thoroughly explored. In this study, we classify instructions into three main types: NLP downstream tasks, coding, and general chatting, and investigate their impact on LLMs. Our findings reveal that specific types of instructions are more beneficial for particular uses, while it may cause harms to other aspects, emphasizing the importance of meticulously designing the instruction mixture to maximize model performance. This study sheds light on the instruction mixture and paves the way for future research.

Sanjib Chaudhary chanced upon StoryWeaver, a multilingual children's storytelling platform, while searching for books he could read to his 7-year-old daughter. Chaudhary's mother tongue is Kochila Tharu, a language with about 250,000 speakers in eastern Nepal. Languages with a relatively small number of speakers, like Kochila Tharu, do not have enough digitized material for linguistic communities to thrive--no Google Translate, no film or television subtitles, no online newspapers. In industry parlance, these languages are "underserved" and "underresourced." This is where StoryWeaver comes in.

In researching the causes and potential treatments for degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, neuroscientists frequently struggle to accurately identify cells needed to understand brain activity that gives rise to behavior changes such as declining memory or impaired balance and tremors. A multidisciplinary team of Georgia Institute of Technology neuroscience researchers, borrowing from existing tools such as graphical models, have uncovered a better way to identify cells and understand the mechanisms of the diseases, potentially leading to better understanding, diagnosis, and treatment. Their research findings were reported Feb. 24 in the journal eLife. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. By using new technologies to understand natural and dysfunctional states of biological systems, neuroscientists hope to ultimately bring cures to diseases.

Robots have taken upon themselves several works requiring human interactions. With a COVID-19-hit world hard-pressed to maintain social distancing, a private firm has deployed seven humanoid robots and other artificial intelligence techniques to reduce human-to-human interaction almost next to nil in its functioning. From carrying files from one person to another to marking the attendance of its employees and taking visitors' temperature and regulating their entry to the office, the robots have taken upon themselves several works requiring human interactions in the office. A robot guards the entry gate to welcome visitors, performs thermal scanning to check their body temperature and sounds an alert if the visitor is not wearing a face mask. The robotic guard's artificial intelligence is synced with the working of the entry gate, which opens up only after it gets a green signal from the robot.

There are two Kirana stores in my neighborhood market. Their square footage is almost the same and they both offer similar products. The only differentiating factor between the two is the customer experience they both offer; one is really lousy at it, whereas the other excels at it. Guess which of these stores gets my business? It's obviously the one where I – the customer – feels valued and gets a personalized experience.

New Delhi: In recent months, the government has taken several steps to raise the bar on good governance in the corporate sector. Minister of state for corporate affairs P.P. Chaudhary, 65, an expert on constitutional matters, said in an interview that the government was working on a host of measures that will improve transparency in companies' affairs and improve ease of doing business in the country. For long, the corporate structure has been abused by some for tax evasion and money laundering. Do you think the steps taken so far effectively address this problem? We are gradually tightening the procedures.

When you have millions of choices, shopping isn't easy. That's why Trendage is using artificial intelligence, visual search, and crowdfunded fashion expertise to help retailers make the right recommendations for shoppers. Trendage is a data-driven style platform that is coming out of stealth today with Automated Product Recommendations for retailers. The company has raised $1.5 million in angel funding. It draws on a combination of AI, visual search, and a community of trendsetters to generate more than 10 million style recommendations a month for apparel, accessories, and footwear retailers.

The government is continuing the process of data mining of deregistered companies and so far, bank details have been gathered for nearly 50,000 such entities, Union minister P P Chaudhary said today. Amid the clampdown on the black money menace, names of more than 2.24 lakh companies have been struck off from the records and over 3 lakh directors have been barred from directorship for their associations with such firms. The minister of state for corporate affairs said that based on details gathered from banks, around 50,000 deregistered companies deposited and withdrew about Rs 17,000 crore during demonetisation. Data mining is continuing with respect to the struck-off entities, Chaudhary said, adding that artificial intelligence could be used to identify illegal activities of companies. He was speaking at an event organised by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

Patients with absolutely no control over their body have finally been able to communicate, say scientists. A brain-computer interface was used to read the thoughts of patients to answer basic yes-or-no questions. One man was able to repeatedly refuse permission for his daughter to get married. The study on four patients in Switzerland - published in PLOS Biology - also showed they were happy despite the effects of being "locked-in". The patients all had advanced forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in which the brain loses the ability to control muscles. It eventually traps people in their own body - they are able to think, but incapable of moving or talking.