12 research outputs found
Ruffle&Riley: Towards the Automated Induction of Conversational Tutoring Systems
Conversational tutoring systems (CTSs) offer learning experiences driven by
natural language interaction. They are known to promote high levels of
cognitive engagement and benefit learning outcomes, particularly in reasoning
tasks. Nonetheless, the time and cost required to author CTS content is a major
obstacle to widespread adoption. In this paper, we introduce a novel type of
CTS that leverages the recent advances in large language models (LLMs) in two
ways: First, the system induces a tutoring script automatically from a lesson
text. Second, the system automates the script orchestration via two LLM-based
agents (Ruffle&Riley) with the roles of a student and a professor in a
learning-by-teaching format. The system allows a free-form conversation that
follows the ITS-typical inner and outer loop structure. In an initial
between-subject online user study (N = 100) comparing Ruffle&Riley to simpler
QA chatbots and reading activity, we found no significant differences in
post-test scores. Nonetheless, in the learning experience survey, Ruffle&Riley
users expressed higher ratings of understanding and remembering and further
perceived the offered support as more helpful and the conversation as coherent.
Our study provides insights for a new generation of scalable CTS technologies.Comment: NeurIPS'23 GAIED, Camera-read
NEOLAF, an LLM-powered neural-symbolic cognitive architecture
This paper presents the Never Ending Open Learning Adaptive Framework
(NEOLAF), an integrated neural-symbolic cognitive architecture that models and
constructs intelligent agents. The NEOLAF framework is a superior approach to
constructing intelligent agents than both the pure connectionist and pure
symbolic approaches due to its explainability, incremental learning,
efficiency, collaborative and distributed learning, human-in-the-loop
enablement, and self-improvement. The paper further presents a compelling
experiment where a NEOLAF agent, built as a problem-solving agent, is fed with
complex math problems from the open-source MATH dataset. The results
demonstrate NEOLAF's superior learning capability and its potential to
revolutionize the field of cognitive architectures and self-improving adaptive
instructional systems
A pair of noncompeting neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies protecting from disease in a SARS-CoV-2 infection model
TRIANNI mice carry an entire set of human immunoglobulin V region gene segments and are a powerful tool to rapidly isolate human monoclonal antibodies. After immunizing these mice with DNA encoding the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and boosting with spike protein, we identified 29 hybridoma antibodies that reacted with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Nine antibodies neutralize SARS-CoV-2 infection at IC50 values in the subnanomolar range. ELISA-binding studies and DNA sequence analyses revealed one cluster of three clonally related neutralizing antibodies that target the receptor-binding domain and compete with the cellular receptor hACE2. A second cluster of six clonally related neutralizing antibodies bind to the N-terminal domain of the spike protein without competing with the binding of hACE2 or cluster 1 antibodies. SARS-CoV-2 mutants selected for resistance to an antibody from one cluster are still neutralized by an antibody from the other cluster. Antibodies from both clusters markedly reduced viral spread in mice transgenic for human ACE2 and protected the animals from SARS-CoV-2-induced weight loss. The two clusters of potent noncompeting SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies provide potential candidates for therapy and prophylaxis of COVID-19. The study further supports transgenic animals with a human immunoglobulin gene repertoire as a powerful platform in pandemic preparedness initiatives