We present a logical framework that enables us to define a formal theory of computational trust in which this notion is analysed in terms of epistemic attitudes towards the possible objects of trust and in relation to existing evidence in favour of the trustworthiness of these objects. The framework is based on a quantified epistemic and justification logic featuring a non-standard handling of identities. Thus, the theory is able to account for the hyperintensional nature of computational trust. We present a proof system and a frame semantics for the logic, we prove soundness and completeness results and we introduce the syntactical machinery required to define a theory of trust.
Emergent communication, or emergent language, is the field of research which studies how human language-like communication systems emerge de novo in deep multi-agent reinforcement learning environments. The possibilities of replicating the emergence of a complex behavior like language have strong intuitive appeal, yet it is necessary to complement this with clear notions of how such research can be applicable to other fields of science, technology, and engineering. This paper comprehensively reviews the applications of emergent communication research across machine learning, natural language processing, linguistics, and cognitive science. Each application is illustrated with a description of its scope, an explication of emergent communication's unique role in addressing it, a summary of the extant literature working towards the application, and brief recommendations for near-term research directions.
We conduct a systematic study of the approximation properties of Transformer for sequence modeling with long, sparse and complicated memory. We investigate the mechanisms through which different components of Transformer, such as the dot-product self-attention, positional encoding and feed-forward layer, affect its expressive power, and we study their combined effects through establishing explicit approximation rates. Our study reveals the roles of critical parameters in the Transformer, such as the number of layers and the number of attention heads. These theoretical insights are validated experimentally and offer natural suggestions for alternative architectures.
Legged robot locomotion is hindered by a mismatch between applications where legs can outperform wheels or treads, most of which feature deformable substrates, and existing tools for planning and control, most of which assume flat, rigid substrates. In this study we focus on the ramifications of plastic terrain deformation on the hop-to-hop energy dynamics of a spring-legged monopedal hopping robot animated by a switched-compliance energy injection controller. From this deliberately simple robot-terrain template, we derive a hop-to-hop energy return map, and we use physical experiments and simulations to validate the hop-to-hop energy map for a real robot hopping on a real deformable substrate. The dynamical properties (fixed points, eigenvalues, basins of attraction) of this map provide insights into efficient, responsive, and robust locomotion on deformable terrain. Specifically, we identify constant-fixed-point surfaces in a controller parameter space that suggest it is possible to tune control parameters for efficiency or responsiveness while targeting a desired gait energy level. We also identify conditions under which fixed points of the energy map are globally stable, and we further characterize the basins of attraction of fixed points when these conditions are not satisfied. We conclude by discussing the implications of this hop-to-hop energy map for planning, control, and estimation for efficient, agile, and robust legged locomotion on deformable terrain.
A polyglot is a file that is valid in two or more formats. Polyglot files pose a problem for malware detection systems that route files to format-specific detectors/signatures, as well as file upload and sanitization tools. In this work we found that existing file-format and embedded-file detection tools, even those developed specifically for polyglot files, fail to reliably detect polyglot files used in the wild, leaving organizations vulnerable to attack. To address this issue, we studied the use of polyglot files by malicious actors in the wild, finding $30$ polyglot samples and $15$ attack chains that leveraged polyglot files. In this report, we highlight two well-known APTs whose cyber attack chains relied on polyglot files to bypass detection mechanisms. Using knowledge from our survey of polyglot usage in the wild -- the first of its kind -- we created a novel data set based on adversary techniques. We then trained a machine learning detection solution, PolyConv, using this data set. PolyConv achieves a precision-recall area-under-curve score of $0.999$ with an F1 score of $99.20$% for polyglot detection and $99.47$% for file-format identification, significantly outperforming all other tools tested. We developed a content disarmament and reconstruction tool, ImSan, that successfully sanitized $100$% of the tested image-based polyglots, which were the most common type found via the survey. Our work provides concrete tools and suggestions to enable defenders to better defend themselves against polyglot files, as well as directions for future work to create more robust file specifications and methods of disarmament.
We argue that the selective inclusion of data points based on latent objectives is common in practical situations, such as music sequences. Since this selection process often distorts statistical analysis, previous work primarily views it as a bias to be corrected and proposes various methods to mitigate its effect. However, while controlling this bias is crucial, selection also offers an opportunity to provide a deeper insight into the hidden generation process, as it is a fundamental mechanism underlying what we observe. In particular, overlooking selection in sequential data can lead to an incomplete or overcomplicated inductive bias in modeling, such as assuming a universal autoregressive structure for all dependencies. Therefore, rather than merely viewing it as a bias, we explore the causal structure of selection in sequential data to delve deeper into the complete causal process. Specifically, we show that selection structure is identifiable without any parametric assumptions or interventional experiments. Moreover, even in cases where selection variables coexist with latent confounders, we still establish the nonparametric identifiability under appropriate structural conditions. Meanwhile, we also propose a provably correct algorithm to detect and identify selection structures as well as other types of dependencies. The framework has been validated empirically on both synthetic data and real-world music.
The fusion of causal models with deep learning introducing increasingly intricate data sets, such as the causal associations within images or between textual components, has surfaced as a focal research area. Nonetheless, the broadening of original causal concepts and theories to such complex, non-statistical data has been met with serious challenges. In response, our study proposes redefinitions of causal data into three distinct categories from the standpoint of causal structure and representation: definite data, semi-definite data, and indefinite data. Definite data chiefly pertains to statistical data used in conventional causal scenarios, while semi-definite data refers to a spectrum of data formats germane to deep learning, including time-series, images, text, and others. Indefinite data is an emergent research sphere inferred from the progression of data forms by us. To comprehensively present these three data paradigms, we elaborate on their formal definitions, differences manifested in datasets, resolution pathways, and development of research. We summarize key tasks and achievements pertaining to definite and semi-definite data from myriad research undertakings, present a roadmap for indefinite data, beginning with its current research conundrums. Lastly, we classify and scrutinize the key datasets presently utilized within these three paradigms.
AI is undergoing a paradigm shift with the rise of models (e.g., BERT, DALL-E, GPT-3) that are trained on broad data at scale and are adaptable to a wide range of downstream tasks. We call these models foundation models to underscore their critically central yet incomplete character. This report provides a thorough account of the opportunities and risks of foundation models, ranging from their capabilities (e.g., language, vision, robotics, reasoning, human interaction) and technical principles(e.g., model architectures, training procedures, data, systems, security, evaluation, theory) to their applications (e.g., law, healthcare, education) and societal impact (e.g., inequity, misuse, economic and environmental impact, legal and ethical considerations). Though foundation models are based on standard deep learning and transfer learning, their scale results in new emergent capabilities,and their effectiveness across so many tasks incentivizes homogenization. Homogenization provides powerful leverage but demands caution, as the defects of the foundation model are inherited by all the adapted models downstream. Despite the impending widespread deployment of foundation models, we currently lack a clear understanding of how they work, when they fail, and what they are even capable of due to their emergent properties. To tackle these questions, we believe much of the critical research on foundation models will require deep interdisciplinary collaboration commensurate with their fundamentally sociotechnical nature.
Deep neural networks have revolutionized many machine learning tasks in power systems, ranging from pattern recognition to signal processing. The data in these tasks is typically represented in Euclidean domains. Nevertheless, there is an increasing number of applications in power systems, where data are collected from non-Euclidean domains and represented as the graph-structured data with high dimensional features and interdependency among nodes. The complexity of graph-structured data has brought significant challenges to the existing deep neural networks defined in Euclidean domains. Recently, many studies on extending deep neural networks for graph-structured data in power systems have emerged. In this paper, a comprehensive overview of graph neural networks (GNNs) in power systems is proposed. Specifically, several classical paradigms of GNNs structures (e.g., graph convolutional networks, graph recurrent neural networks, graph attention networks, graph generative networks, spatial-temporal graph convolutional networks, and hybrid forms of GNNs) are summarized, and key applications in power systems such as fault diagnosis, power prediction, power flow calculation, and data generation are reviewed in detail. Furthermore, main issues and some research trends about the applications of GNNs in power systems are discussed.
This work considers the question of how convenient access to copious data impacts our ability to learn causal effects and relations. In what ways is learning causality in the era of big data different from -- or the same as -- the traditional one? To answer this question, this survey provides a comprehensive and structured review of both traditional and frontier methods in learning causality and relations along with the connections between causality and machine learning. This work points out on a case-by-case basis how big data facilitates, complicates, or motivates each approach.
The notion of uncertainty is of major importance in machine learning and constitutes a key element of machine learning methodology. In line with the statistical tradition, uncertainty has long been perceived as almost synonymous with standard probability and probabilistic predictions. Yet, due to the steadily increasing relevance of machine learning for practical applications and related issues such as safety requirements, new problems and challenges have recently been identified by machine learning scholars, and these problems may call for new methodological developments. In particular, this includes the importance of distinguishing between (at least) two different types of uncertainty, often refereed to as aleatoric and epistemic. In this paper, we provide an introduction to the topic of uncertainty in machine learning as well as an overview of hitherto attempts at handling uncertainty in general and formalizing this distinction in particular.