We propose two novel approaches to address a critical problem of reach measurement across multiple media -- how to estimate the reach of an unobserved subset of buying groups (BGs) based on the observed reach of other subsets of BGs. Specifically, we propose a model-free approach and a model-based approach. The former provides a coarse estimate for the reach of any subset by leveraging the consistency among the reach of different subsets. Linear programming is used to capture the constraints of the reach consistency. This produces an upper and a lower bound for the reach of any subset. The latter provides a point estimate for the reach of any subset. The key idea behind the latter is to exploit the conditional independence model. In particular, the groups of the model are created by assuming each BG has either high or low reach probability in a group, and the weights of each group are determined through solving a non-negative least squares (NNLS) problem. In addition, we also provide a framework to give both confidence interval and point estimates by integrating these two approaches with training points selection and parameter fine-tuning through cross-validation. Finally, we evaluate the two approaches through experiments on synthetic data.
In low-bitrate speech coding, end-to-end speech coding networks aim to learn compact yet expressive features and a powerful decoder in a single network. A challenging problem as such results in unwelcome complexity increase and inferior speech quality. In this paper, we propose to separate the representation learning and information reconstruction tasks. We leverage an end-to-end codec for learning low-dimensional discrete tokens and employ a latent diffusion model to de-quantize coded features into a high-dimensional continuous space, relieving the decoder's burden of de-quantizing and upsampling. To mitigate the issue of over-smooth generation, we introduce midway-infilling with less noise reduction and stronger conditioning. In ablation studies, we investigate the hyperparameters for midway-infilling and latent diffusion space with different dimensions. Subjective listening tests show that our model outperforms the state-of-the-art at two low bitrates, 1.5 and 3 kbps. Codes and samples of this work are available on our webpage.
Spectral bounds form a powerful tool to estimate the minimum distances of quasi-cyclic codes. They generalize the defining set bounds of cyclic codes to those of quasi-cyclic codes. Based on the eigenvalues of quasi-cyclic codes and the corresponding eigenspaces, we provide an improved spectral bound for quasi-cyclic codes. Numerical results verify that the improved bound outperforms the Jensen bound in almost all cases. Based on the improved bound, we propose a general construction of quasi-cyclic codes with excellent designed minimum distances. For the quasi-cyclic codes produced by this general construction, the improved spectral bound is always sharper than the Jensen bound.
In this paper, we propose a novel joint source-channel coding (JSCC) approach for channel-adaptive digital semantic communications. In semantic communication systems with digital modulation and demodulation, end-to-end training and robust design of JSCC encoder and decoder becomes challenging due to the nonlinearity of modulation and demodulation processes, as well as diverse channel conditions and modulation orders. To address this challenge, we first develop a new demodulation method which assesses the uncertainty of the demodulation output to improve the robustness of the digital semantic communication system. We then devise a robust training strategy that facilitates end-to-end training of the JSCC encoder and decoder, while enhancing their robustness and flexibility. To this end, we model the relationship between the encoder's output and decoder's input using binary symmetric erasure channels and then sample the parameters of these channels from diverse distributions. We also develop a channel-adaptive modulation technique for an inference phase, in order to reduce the communication latency while maintaining task performance. In this technique, we adaptively determine modulation orders for the latent variables based on channel conditions. Using simulations, we demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed JSCC approach for both image classification and reconstruction tasks compared to existing JSCC approaches.
Interpreting EEG signals linked to spoken language presents a complex challenge, given the data's intricate temporal and spatial attributes, as well as the various noise factors. Denoising diffusion probabilistic models (DDPMs), which have recently gained prominence in diverse areas for their capabilities in representation learning, are explored in our research as a means to address this issue. Using DDPMs in conjunction with a conditional autoencoder, our new approach considerably outperforms traditional machine learning algorithms and established baseline models in accuracy. Our results highlight the potential of DDPMs as a sophisticated computational method for the analysis of speech-related EEG signals. This could lead to significant advances in brain-computer interfaces tailored for spoken communication.
Multi-modal large language models (LLM) have achieved powerful capabilities for visual semantic understanding in recent years. However, little is known about how LLMs comprehend visual information and interpret different modalities of features. In this paper, we propose a new method for identifying multi-modal neurons in transformer-based multi-modal LLMs. Through a series of experiments, We highlight three critical properties of multi-modal neurons by four well-designed quantitative evaluation metrics. Furthermore, we introduce a knowledge editing method based on the identified multi-modal neurons, for modifying a specific token to another designative token. We hope our findings can inspire further explanatory researches on understanding mechanisms of multi-modal LLMs.
Whenever a binary classifier is used to provide decision support, it typically provides both a label prediction and a confidence value. Then, the decision maker is supposed to use the confidence value to calibrate how much to trust the prediction. In this context, it has been often argued that the confidence value should correspond to a well calibrated estimate of the probability that the predicted label matches the ground truth label. However, multiple lines of empirical evidence suggest that decision makers have difficulties at developing a good sense on when to trust a prediction using these confidence values. In this paper, our goal is first to understand why and then investigate how to construct more useful confidence values. We first argue that, for a broad class of utility functions, there exist data distributions for which a rational decision maker is, in general, unlikely to discover the optimal decision policy using the above confidence values -- an optimal decision maker would need to sometimes place more (less) trust on predictions with lower (higher) confidence values. However, we then show that, if the confidence values satisfy a natural alignment property with respect to the decision maker's confidence on her own predictions, there always exists an optimal decision policy under which the level of trust the decision maker would need to place on predictions is monotone on the confidence values, facilitating its discoverability. Further, we show that multicalibration with respect to the decision maker's confidence on her own predictions is a sufficient condition for alignment. Experiments on four different AI-assisted decision making tasks where a classifier provides decision support to real human experts validate our theoretical results and suggest that alignment may lead to better decisions.
Despite the enhanced realism and immersion provided by VR headsets, users frequently encounter adverse effects such as digital eye strain (DES), dry eye, and potential long-term visual impairment due to excessive eye stimulation from VR displays and pressure from the mask. Recent VR headsets are increasingly equipped with eye-oriented monocular cameras to segment ocular feature maps. Yet, to compute the incident light stimulus and observe periocular condition alterations, it is imperative to transform these relative measurements into metric dimensions. To bridge this gap, we propose a lightweight framework derived from the U-Net 3+ deep learning backbone that we re-optimised, to estimate measurable periocular depth maps. Compatible with any VR headset equipped with an eye-oriented monocular camera, our method reconstructs three-dimensional periocular regions, providing a metric basis for related light stimulus calculation protocols and medical guidelines. Navigating the complexities of data collection, we introduce a Dynamic Periocular Data Generation (DPDG) environment based on UE MetaHuman, which synthesises thousands of training images from a small quantity of human facial scan data. Evaluated on a sample of 36 participants, our method exhibited notable efficacy in the periocular global precision evaluation experiment, and the pupil diameter measurement.
Inference, especially those derived from inductive processes, is a crucial component in our conversation to complement the information implicitly or explicitly conveyed by a speaker. While recent large language models show remarkable advances in inference tasks, their performance in inductive reasoning, where not all information is present in the context, is far behind deductive reasoning. In this paper, we analyze the behavior of the models based on the task difficulty defined by the semantic information gap -- which distinguishes inductive and deductive reasoning (Johnson-Laird, 1988, 1993). Our analysis reveals that the disparity in information between dialogue contexts and desired inferences poses a significant challenge to the inductive inference process. To mitigate this information gap, we investigate a contrastive learning approach by feeding negative samples. Our experiments suggest negative samples help models understand what is wrong and improve their inference generations.
Integrating and processing information from various sources or modalities are critical for obtaining a comprehensive and accurate perception of the real world. Drawing inspiration from neuroscience, we develop the Information-Theoretic Hierarchical Perception (ITHP) model, which utilizes the concept of information bottleneck. Distinct from most traditional fusion models that aim to incorporate all modalities as input, our model designates the prime modality as input, while the remaining modalities act as detectors in the information pathway. Our proposed perception model focuses on constructing an effective and compact information flow by achieving a balance between the minimization of mutual information between the latent state and the input modal state, and the maximization of mutual information between the latent states and the remaining modal states. This approach leads to compact latent state representations that retain relevant information while minimizing redundancy, thereby substantially enhancing the performance of downstream tasks. Experimental evaluations on both the MUStARD and CMU-MOSI datasets demonstrate that our model consistently distills crucial information in multimodal learning scenarios, outperforming state-of-the-art benchmarks.
Advances in artificial intelligence often stem from the development of new environments that abstract real-world situations into a form where research can be done conveniently. This paper contributes such an environment based on ideas inspired by elementary Microeconomics. Agents learn to produce resources in a spatially complex world, trade them with one another, and consume those that they prefer. We show that the emergent production, consumption, and pricing behaviors respond to environmental conditions in the directions predicted by supply and demand shifts in Microeconomics. We also demonstrate settings where the agents' emergent prices for goods vary over space, reflecting the local abundance of goods. After the price disparities emerge, some agents then discover a niche of transporting goods between regions with different prevailing prices -- a profitable strategy because they can buy goods where they are cheap and sell them where they are expensive. Finally, in a series of ablation experiments, we investigate how choices in the environmental rewards, bartering actions, agent architecture, and ability to consume tradable goods can either aid or inhibit the emergence of this economic behavior. This work is part of the environment development branch of a research program that aims to build human-like artificial general intelligence through multi-agent interactions in simulated societies. By exploring which environment features are needed for the basic phenomena of elementary microeconomics to emerge automatically from learning, we arrive at an environment that differs from those studied in prior multi-agent reinforcement learning work along several dimensions. For example, the model incorporates heterogeneous tastes and physical abilities, and agents negotiate with one another as a grounded form of communication.