Evolutionary program synthesis systems such as AlphaEvolve, OpenEvolve, and ShinkaEvolve offer a new approach to AI-assisted mathematical discovery. These systems utilize teams of large language models (LLMs) to generate candidate solutions to a problem as human readable code. These candidate solutions are then 'evolved' with the goal of improving them beyond what an LLM can produce in a single shot. While existing mathematical applications have mostly focused on problems of establishing bounds (e.g., sphere packing), the program synthesis approach is well suited to any problem where the solution takes the form of an explicit construction. With this in mind, in this paper we explore the use of OpenEvolve for combinatorial bijection discovery. We describe the results of applying OpenEvolve to three bijection construction problems involving Dyck paths, two of which are known and one of which is open. We find that while systems like OpenEvolve show promise as a valuable tool for combinatorialists, the problem of finding novel, research-level bijections remains a challenging task for current frontier systems, reinforcing the need for human mathematicians in the loop. We describe some lessons learned for others in the field interested in exploring the use of these systems.

In this work, we highlight the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Large Language Models (LLMs) and agentic AI, in the insurance sector. We consider and emphasize the unique opportunities, challenges, and potential pathways in insurance amid rapid performance improvements, increased open-source access, decreasing deployment costs, and the complexity of LLM or agentic AI frameworks. To bring it closer to home, we identify critical gaps in the African insurance market and highlight key local efforts, players, and partnership opportunities. Finally, we call upon actuaries, insurers, regulators, and tech leaders to a collaborative effort aimed at creating inclusive, sustainable, and equitable AI strategies and solutions: by and for Africans.

Network attack detection is a pivotal technology to identify network anomaly and classify malicious traffic. Large Language Models (LLMs) are trained on a vast corpus of text, have amassed remarkable capabilities of context-understanding and commonsense knowledge. This has opened up a new door for network threat detection. Researchers have already initiated discussions regarding the application of LLMs on specific cyber-security tasks. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of comprehensive elaboration how to mine LLMs' potentials in network threat detections, as well as the opportunities and challenges. In this paper, we mainly focus on the classification of malicious traffic from the perspective of LLMs' capability. We present a holistic view of the architecture of LLM-powered network attack detection, including Pre-training, Fine-tuning, and Detection. Especially, by exploring the knowledge and capabilities of LLM, we identify three distinct roles LLM can act in network attack detection: \textit{Classifier, Encoder, and Predictor}. For each of them, the modeling paradigm, opportunities and challenges are elaborated. Finally, we present our design on LLM-powered DDoS detection as a case study. The proposed framework attains accurate detection on carpet bombing DDoS by exploiting LLMs' capabilities in contextual mining. The evaluation shows its efficacy, exhibiting a nearly $35$\% improvement compared to existing systems.

Global leaders and policymakers are unified in their unequivocal commitment to decarbonization efforts in support of Net-Zero agreements. District Heating Systems (DHS), while contributing to carbon emissions due to the continued reliance on fossil fuels for heat production, are embracing more sustainable practices albeit with some sense of vulnerability as it could constrain their ability to adapt to dynamic demand and production scenarios. As demographic demands grow and renewables become the central strategy in decarbonizing the heating sector, the need for accurate demand forecasting has intensified. Advances in digitization have paved the way for Machine Learning (ML) based solutions to become the industry standard for modeling complex time series patterns. In this paper, we focus on building a Deep Learning (DL) model that uses deconstructed components of independent and dependent variables that affect heat demand as features to perform multi-step ahead forecasting of head demand. The model represents the input features in a time-frequency space and uses an attention mechanism to generate accurate forecasts. The proposed method is evaluated on a real-world dataset and the forecasting performance is assessed against LSTM and CNN-based forecasting models. Across different supply zones, the attention-based models outperforms the baselines quantitatively and qualitatively, with an Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.105 with a standard deviation of 0.06kW h and a Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 5.4% with a standard deviation of 2.8%, in comparison the second best model with a MAE of 0.10 with a standard deviation of 0.06kW h and a MAPE of 5.6% with a standard deviation of 3%.

Generative AI and large-scale language models (LLM) have emerged as powerful tools in language preservation, particularly for near-native and endangered languages. With the increasing reliance on technology for communication, education, and cultural documentation, new opportunities have emerged to mitigate the dramatic decline of linguistic diversity worldwide. This paper examines the role of generative AIs and LLMs in preserving endangered languages, highlighting the risks and challenges associated with their use. We analyze the underlying technologies driving these models, including natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning, and explore several cases where these technologies have been applied to low-resource languages. Additionally, we discuss ethical considerations, data scarcity issues, and technical challenges while proposing solutions to enhance AI-driven language preservation.

Accurate phase diagram prediction is crucial for understanding alloy thermodynamics and advancing materials design. While traditional CALPHAD methods are robust, they are resource-intensive and limited by experimentally assessed data. This work explores the use of machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs) such as M3GNet, CHGNet, MACE, SevenNet, and ORB to significantly accelerate phase diagram calculations by using the Alloy Theoretic Automated Toolkit (ATAT) to map calculations of the energies and free energies of atomistic systems to CALPHAD-compatible thermodynamic descriptions. Using case studies including Cr-Mo, Cu-Au, and Pt-W, we demonstrate that MLIPs, particularly ORB, achieve computational speedups exceeding three orders of magnitude compared to DFT while maintaining phase stability predictions within acceptable accuracy. Extending this approach to liquid phases and ternary systems like Cr-Mo-V highlights its versatility for high-entropy alloys and complex chemical spaces. This work demonstrates that MLIPs, integrated with tools like ATAT within a CALPHAD framework, provide an efficient and accurate framework for high-throughput thermodynamic modeling, enabling rapid exploration of novel alloy systems. While many challenges remain to be addressed, the accuracy of some of these MLIPs (ORB in particular) are on the verge of paving the way toward high-throughput generation of CALPHAD thermodynamic descriptions of multi-component, multi-phase alloy systems.

Leveraging recent advances in generative AI, multi-agent systems are increasingly being developed to enhance the functionality and efficiency of smart city applications. This paper explores the transformative potential of large language models (LLMs) and emerging Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technologies in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), paving the way for innovative solutions to address critical challenges in urban mobility. We begin by providing a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in mobility data, ITS, and Connected Vehicles (CV) applications. Building on this review, we discuss the rationale behind RAG and examine the opportunities for integrating these Generative AI (GenAI) technologies into the smart mobility sector. We propose a conceptual framework aimed at developing multi-agent systems capable of intelligently and conversationally delivering smart mobility services to urban commuters, transportation operators, and decision-makers. Our approach seeks to foster an autonomous and intelligent approach that (a) promotes science-based advisory to reduce traffic congestion, accidents, and carbon emissions at multiple scales, (b) facilitates public education and engagement in participatory mobility management, and (c) automates specialized transportation management tasks and the development of critical ITS platforms, such as data analytics and interpretation, knowledge representation, and traffic simulations. By integrating LLM and RAG, our approach seeks to overcome the limitations of traditional rule-based multi-agent systems, which rely on fixed knowledge bases and limited reasoning capabilities. This integration paves the way for a more scalable, intuitive, and automated multi-agent paradigm, driving advancements in ITS and urban mobility.

The application of Machine Learning (ML) to hydrologic modeling is fledgling. Its applicability to capture the dependencies on watersheds to forecast better within a short period is fascinating. One of the key reasons to adopt ML algorithms over physics-based models is its computational efficiency advantage and flexibility to work with various data sets. The diverse applications, particularly in emergency response and expanding over a large scale, demand the hydrological model in a short time and make researchers adopt data-driven modeling approaches unhesitatingly. In this work, in the era of ML and deep learning (DL), how it can help to improve the overall run time of physics-based model and potential constraints that should be addressed while modeling. This paper covers the opportunities and challenges of adopting ML for hydrological modeling and subsequently how it can help to improve the simulation time of physics-based models and future works that should be addressed.

Machine learning algorithms have become indispensable in today's world. They support and accelerate the way we make decisions based on the data at hand. This acceleration means that data structures that were valid at one moment could no longer be valid in the future. With these changing data structures, it is necessary to adapt machine learning (ML) systems incrementally to the new data. This is done with the use of online learning or continuous ML technologies. While deep learning technologies have shown exceptional performance on predefined datasets, they have not been widely applied to online, streaming, and continuous learning. In this retrospective of our tutorial titled Opportunities and Challenges of Online Deep Learning held at ECML PKDD 2023, we provide a brief overview of the opportunities but also the potential pitfalls for the application of neural networks in online learning environments using the frameworks River and Deep-River.

In schools, teachers play a multitude of roles, serving as educators, counselors, decision-makers, and members of the school community. With recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), there is increasing discussion about how AI can assist, complement, and collaborate with teachers. To pave the way for better teacher-AI complementary relationships in schools, our study aims to expand the discourse on teacher-AI complementarity by seeking educators' perspectives on the potential strengths and limitations of AI across a spectrum of responsibilities. Through a mixed method using a survey with 100 elementary school teachers in South Korea and in-depth interviews with 12 teachers, our findings indicate that teachers anticipate AI's potential to complement human teachers by automating administrative tasks and enhancing personalized learning through advanced intelligence. Interestingly, the deficit of AI's socio-emotional capabilities has been perceived as both challenges and opportunities. Overall, our study demonstrates the nuanced perception of teachers and different levels of expectations over their roles, challenging the need for decisions about AI adoption tailored to educators' preferences and concerns.