Argumentative Reward Learning: Reasoning About Human Preferences

We define a novel neuro-symbolic framework, argumentative reward learning, which combines preference-based argumentation with existing approaches to reinforcement learning from human feedback. Our method improves prior work by generalising human preferences, reducing the burden on the user and increasing the robustness of the reward model. We demonstrate this with a number of experiments.Comment: 4 pages, ICML HMCaT worksho

Oxidative Dissolution of Lithium and Manganese from Lithium Manganospinel (LiMn 2 O 4 ): Towards Climate-Smart Processes for Critical Metal Recycling

This work reports the oxidative breakdown of the LiMn2O4 structure using alkaline hypochlorite, as a method for recovering both lithium and manganese species. The heterogeneous dissolution rate for this process is monitored through the formation of the permanganate ion. It is found that reaction occurs under activation control, with a barrier that matches that for electron hopping within the spinel. Moreover, this activation barrier is smaller than those observed for typical conventional methods of recovery of lithium or manganese from LiMn2O4; accordingly, the new process is suggested to be climate-smart, despite the low, single-pass, recovery efficiency that results from slow surface kinetics

The Reasons that Agents Act: Intention and Instrumental Goals

Intention is an important and challenging concept in AI. It is important because it underlies many other concepts we care about, such as agency, manipulation, legal responsibility, and blame. However, ascribing intent to AI systems is contentious, and there is no universally accepted theory of intention applicable to AI agents. We operationalise the intention with which an agent acts, relating to the reasons it chooses its decision. We introduce a formal definition of intention in structural causal influence models, grounded in the philosophy literature on intent and applicable to real-world machine learning systems. Through a number of examples and results, we show that our definition captures the intuitive notion of intent and satisfies desiderata set-out by past work. In addition, we show how our definition relates to past concepts, including actual causality, and the notion of instrumental goals, which is a core idea in the literature on safe AI agents. Finally, we demonstrate how our definition can be used to infer the intentions of reinforcement learning agents and language models from their behaviour.Comment: AAMAS2

The Emos: the re-traditionalisation of white, working-class masculinities through the 'alternative scene'

During the last few decades the South Wales valleys (U.K) have undergone a considerable economic transformation. Alongside industrial change, social, cultural and political traditions have altered youth transitions from school to work. Young working-class men in particular have struggled to adapt to these changes. This paper is drawn from a wider ESRC-funded ethnographic study that explored the diversity of white, working-class masculinities in a socially and economically disadvantaged community. Drawing on the work of Erving Goffman, I take the perspective that masculinity is a performance of multiple acts displayed through different regions of self. Concentrating on the „front‟ display of masculinity of one group of young men, this paper looks at the experiences of those who embrace a trans-global form of youth culture known as the „alternative scene‟ and were labelled by others at The Emos. These young men were often alienated, bullied and victimised for their apparent nonnormative performances of masculinity. However, through a closer analysis of the historical dynamics of place, class and gender, I suggest that these non-normative front performances of masculinity continue to evidence many traditional discourses that contradict their own „alternative‟ displays. In doing so it becomes clear that these performances were in fact a retraditionalization of older discourses of classed and gender codes

Empowering Clean Water whilst Safeguarding Water Distribution Pipeline Integrity: Towards Manganese- and Iron-Free Lime Hydrate for Water Treatment

Hydrated limes are amongst the most economically valuable alkalis used by the water industry for the treatment of potable water. They are typically manufactured from the thermal decomposition of high purity limestones. However, the latter contain both manganese and iron impurities, which are transformed into the oxides Mn3O4 and Fe2O3 on burning in kilns (between 900 – 1100 oC) during the manufacture of lime, and are retained in the lime hydrate upon slaking. These impurities can be released through oxidation by conventional water disinfection chemicals (such as alkaline hypochlorite) during the use of lime hydrate as the alkaline pH modifier during conventional operations in water treatment works. This work investigates the redox mechanisms for manganese and iron removal from lime hydrate using alkaline hypochlorite: for manganese, interfacial electron transfer occurs first leading to dissolution as permanganate; in the case of iron impurities, solubility is encouraged in oxygenated solutions first through formation of solid ferrite, with oxidative dissolution of ferrite to ferrate. As expected for activation-controlled reactions, the oxidative dissolution is enhanced with increased temperatures; mapping the dissolution process with time allows for the unravelling of “rule-of-thumb” relationships for impurity removal of ~1%/min for manganese and ~3%/min for iron at 90 oC in alkaline hypochlorite

Electrochemical Quantification of D-Glucose during the Production of Bioethanol from Thermo-Mechanically Pre-treated Wheat Straw

Mechanical pre-treatment (disc refining) of wheat straw, at both atmospheric and elevated pressure, is shown to be an efficient process to access fermentable monosaccharides, with the potential to integrate within the infrastructure of existing first-generation bioethanol plants. The mild, enzymatic degradation of this sustainable lignocellulosic biomass affords ca. 0.10-0.13 g/g (dry weight) of D-glucose quantifiable voltammetrically in real time, over a two hundred-fold range in experimental laboratory scales (25 mL to 5.0 L), with pressure disc refining of the wheat straw enabling almost twice the amount of D-glucose to be generated during the hydrolysis stage than experiments using atmospheric refining (0.06 – 0.09 g/g dry weight). Fermentation of the resulting hydrolysate affords 0.08 – 0.10 g/g (dry weight) of ethanol over similar scales, with ethanol productivity at ca. 37 mg/(L h). These results demonstrate that minimal cellulose decomposition occurs during pressure refining of wheat straw, in contrast to hemicellulose, and suggest that the development of green, mechanochemical processes for the scalable and cost-effective manufacture of second-generation bioethanol requires improved cellulose decomposition

Use of microsatellite-based paternity assignment to establish where Corn Crake <i>Crex crex</i> chicks are at risk from mechanized mowing

We used microsatellite DNA to assign probable parentage of young Corn Crakes to adult males and females and used these assignments to estimate the distribution of distances between broods of chicks and juveniles and the night-time singing place of the father at the time of initiation of the clutch. Estimated distances for broods of young chicks were in accord with those estimated previously by radiotracking, but distances were greater for older unfledged independent chicks not studied previously. Our results indicate that modifications of the timing and method of mowing to reduce losses of nests and chicks should be implemented inside an area within about 500 m of the singing places of male Corn Crakes, rather than the 250 m previously considered to be safe

Never waste a good crisis: a review of progress since Rethinking Construction and thoughts for our future

Never waste a good crisis: a review of progress since Rethinking Construction and thoughts for our futur