Synergistic Integration of Large Language Models and Cognitive Architectures for Robust AI: An Exploratory Analysis

This paper explores the integration of two AI subdisciplines employed in the development of artificial agents that exhibit intelligent behavior: Large Language Models (LLMs) and Cognitive Architectures (CAs). We present three integration approaches, each grounded in theoretical models and supported by preliminary empirical evidence. The modular approach, which introduces four models with varying degrees of integration, makes use of chain-of-thought prompting, and draws inspiration from augmented LLMs, the Common Model of Cognition, and the simulation theory of cognition. The agency approach, motivated by the Society of Mind theory and the LIDA cognitive architecture, proposes the formation of agent collections that interact at micro and macro cognitive levels, driven by either LLMs or symbolic components. The neuro-symbolic approach, which takes inspiration from the CLARION cognitive architecture, proposes a model where bottom-up learning extracts symbolic representations from an LLM layer and top-down guidance utilizes symbolic representations to direct prompt engineering in the LLM layer. These approaches aim to harness the strengths of both LLMs and CAs, while mitigating their weaknesses, thereby advancing the development of more robust AI systems. We discuss the tradeoffs and challenges associated with each approach.Comment: AAAI 2023 Fall Symposiu

Citizen motivation on the go: the role of psychological empowerment

Although advances in technology now enable people to communicate ‘anytime, anyplace’, it is not clear how citizens can be motivated to actually do so. This paper evaluates the impact of three principles of psychological empowerment, namely perceived self-efficacy, sense of community and causal importance, on public transport passengers’ motivation to report issues and complaints while on the move. A week-long study with 65 participants revealed that self-efficacy and causal importance increased participation in short bursts and increased perceptions of service quality over longer periods. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for citizen participation projects and reflect on design opportunities for mobile technologies that motivate citizen participation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Query Scrambling for Bursty Data Arrival.

Distributed databases operating over wide-area networks, such as the Internet, must deal with the unpredictable nature of the performance of communication. The response times of accessing remote sources may vary widely due to network congestion, link failure, and other problems. In this paper we examine a new class of methods, called query scrambling, for dealing with unpredictable response times. Query scrambling dynamically modifies query execution plans on-the-fly in reaction to unexpected delays in data access. We explore various choices in the implementation of these methods and examine, through a detailed simulation, the effects of these choices. Our experimental environment considers pipelined and non-pipelined join processing in a client with multiple remote data sources and it focuses on bursty arrivals of data. We identify and study a number of the basic trade-offs that arise when designing scrambling policies for the bursty environment. Our performance results show that query scrambling is effective in hiding the impact of delays on query response time for a number of different delay scenarios. (Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-96-84

Scrambling Query Plans to Cope With Unexpected Delays

Accessing numerous widely-distributed data sources poses significant new challenges for query optimization and execution. Congestion or failure in the network introduce highly-variable response times for wide-area data access. This paper is an initial exploration of solutions to this variability. We investigate a class of dynamic, run-time query plan modification techniques that we call query plan scrambling. We present an algorithm which modifies execution plans on-the-fly in response to unexpected delays in data access. The algorithm both reschedules operators and introduces new operators into the plan. We present simulation results that show how our technique effectively hides delays in receiving the initial requested tuples from remote data sources. (Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-96-35

Improving corporate governance in state-owned corporations in China: which way forward?

This article discusses corporate governance in China. It outlines the basic agency problem in Chinese listed companies and questions the effectiveness of the current mechanisms employed to improve their standards of governance. Importantly, it considers alternative means through which corporate practice in China can be brought into line with international expectations and stresses the urgency with which this task must be tackled. It concludes that regulators in China must construct a corporate governance model which is compatible with its domestic setting and not rush to adopt governance initiatives modelled on those in cultures which are fundamentally different in the hope of also reproducing their success

HIMMELI v1.0: HelsinkI Model of MEthane buiLd-up and emIssion for peatlands

Wetlands are one of the most significant natural sources of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere. They emit CH4 because decomposition of soil organic matter in waterlogged anoxic conditions produces CH4, in addition to carbon dioxide (CO2). Production of CH4 and how much of it escapes to the atmosphere depend on a multitude of environmental drivers. Models simulating the processes leading to CH4 emissions are thus needed for upscaling observations to estimate present CH4 emissions and for producing scenarios of future atmospheric CH4 concentrations. Aiming at a CH4 model that can be added to models describing peatland carbon cycling, we developed a model called HIMMELI that describes CH4 build-up in and emissions from peatland soils. It is not a full peatland carbon cycle model but it requires the rate of anoxic soil respiration as input. Driven by soil temperature, leaf area index (LAI) of aerenchymatous peatland vegetation and water table depth (WTD), it simulates the concentrations and transport of CH4, CO2 and oxygen (O2) in a layered one-dimensional peat column. Here, we present the HIMMELI model structure, results of tests on the model sensitivity to the input data and to the description of the peat column (peat depth and layer thickness), and an intercomparison of the modelled and measured CH4 fluxes at Siikaneva, a peatland flux measurement site in Southern Finland. As HIMMELI describes only the CH4-related processes, not the full carbon cycle, our analysis revealed mechanisms and dependencies that may remain hidden when testing CH4 models connected to complete peatland carbon models, which is usually the case. Our results indicated that 1) the model is flexible and robust and thus suitable for different environments; 2) the simulated CH4 emissions largely depend on the prescribed rate of anoxic respiration; 3) the sensitivity of the total CH4 emission to other input variables, LAI and WTD, is mainly mediated via the O2 concentrations that affect the CH4 production and oxidation rates; 4) with given input respiration, the peat column description does not affect significantly the simulated CH4 emissions

Effect of time to sentinel-node biopsy on the prognosis of cutaneous melanoma

Introduction: In patients with primary cutaneous melanoma, there is generally a delay between excisional biopsy of the primary tumour and sentinel-node biopsy. The objective of this study is to analyse the prognostic implications of this delay. Patients and method: This was an observational, retrospective, cohort study in four tertiary referral hospitals. A total of 1963 patients were included. The factor of interest was the interval between the date of the excisional biopsy of the primary melanoma and the date of the sentinel-node biopsy (delay time) in the prognosis. The primary outcome was melanoma-specific survival and disease-free survival. Results: A delay time of 40 days or less (hazard ratio (HR), 1.7; confidence interval (CI), 1.2-2.5) increased Breslow thickness (Breslow ⩾2 mm, HR, >3.7; CI, 1.4-10.7), ulceration (HR, 1.6; CI, 1.1-2.3), sentinel-node metastasis (HR, 2.9; CI, 1.9-4.2), and primary melanoma localised in the head or neck were independently associated with worse melanoma-specific survival (all P < 0.03). The stratified analysis showed that the effect of delay time was at the expense of the patients with a negative sentinel-node biopsy and without regression. Conclusion: Early sentinel-node biopsy is associated with worse survival in patients with cutaneous melanoma