Empowering Multi-step Reasoning across Languages via Tree-of-Thoughts

Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting empowers the reasoning abilities of Large Language Models (LLMs), eliciting them to solve complex reasoning tasks step-by-step. However, with the success of CoT methods, the ability to deliver multi-step reasoning remains limited to English due to the imbalance in the distribution of the pre-training data, making the other languages a barrier. In this work, we propose a Cross-lingual multi-step reasoning approach, aiming to align reasoning processes across different languages. In particular, our method, through a Self-consistent Cross-lingual prompting mechanism inspired by the Tree-of-Thoughts approach, delivers multi-step reasoning paths in different languages that, during the steps, lead to the final solution. Our experimental evaluations show that our method significantly outperforms existing prompting methods, reducing the number of interactions and achieving state-of-the-art performance

HANS, are you clever? Clever Hans Effect Analysis of Neural Systems

Instruction-tuned Large Language Models (It-LLMs) have been exhibiting outstanding abilities to reason around cognitive states, intentions, and reactions of all people involved, letting humans guide and comprehend day-to-day social interactions effectively. In fact, several multiple-choice questions (MCQ) benchmarks have been proposed to construct solid assessments of the models' abilities. However, earlier works are demonstrating the presence of inherent "order bias" in It-LLMs, posing challenges to the appropriate evaluation. In this paper, we investigate It-LLMs' resilience abilities towards a series of probing tests using four MCQ benchmarks. Introducing adversarial examples, we show a significant performance gap, mainly when varying the order of the choices, which reveals a selection bias and brings into discussion reasoning abilities. Following a correlation between first positions and model choices due to positional bias, we hypothesized the presence of structural heuristics in the decision-making process of the It-LLMs, strengthened by including significant examples in few-shot scenarios. Finally, by using the Chain-of-Thought (CoT) technique, we elicit the model to reason and mitigate the bias by obtaining more robust models

Animate, or inanimate, that is the question for large language models

The cognitive essence of humans is deeply intertwined with the concept of animacy, which plays an essential role in shaping their memory, vision, and multi-layered language understanding. Although animacy appears in language via nuanced constraints on verbs and adjectives, it is also learned and refined through extralinguistic information. Similarly, we assume that the LLMs' limited abilities to understand natural language when processing animacy are motivated by the fact that these models are trained exclusively on text. Hence, the question this paper aims to answer arises: can LLMs, in their digital wisdom, process animacy in a similar way to what humans would do? We then propose a systematic analysis via prompting approaches. In particular, we probe different LLMs by prompting them using animate, inanimate, usual, and stranger contexts. Results reveal that, although LLMs have been trained predominantly on textual data, they exhibit human-like behavior when faced with typical animate and inanimate entities in alignment with earlier studies. Hence, LLMs can adapt to understand unconventional situations by recognizing oddities as animated without needing to interface with unspoken cognitive triggers humans rely on to break down animations

A Trip Towards Fairness: Bias and De-Biasing in Large Language Models

An outbreak in the popularity of transformer-based Language Models (such as GPT (Brown et al., 2020) and PaLM (Chowdhery et al., 2022)) has opened the doors to new Machine Learning applications. In particular, in Natural Language Processing and how pre-training from large text, corpora is essential in achieving remarkable results in downstream tasks. However, these Language Models seem to have inherent biases toward certain demographics reflected in their training data. While research has attempted to mitigate this problem, existing methods either fail to remove bias altogether, degrade performance, or are expensive. This paper examines the bias produced by promising Language Models when varying parameters and pre-training data. Finally, we propose a de-biasing technique that produces robust de-bias models that maintain performance on downstream tasks

Knowing Knowledge: Epistemological Study of Knowledge in Transformers

Statistical learners are leading towards auto-epistemic logic, but is it the right way to progress in artificial intelligence (AI)? Ways to discover AI fit the senses and the intellect. The structure of symbols–the operations by which the intellectual solution is realized–and the search for strategic reference points evoke essential issues in the analysis of AI. Studying how knowledge can be represented through methods of theoretical generalization and empirical observation is only the latest step in a long process of evolution. In this paper, we try to outline the origin of knowledge and how modern artificial minds have inherited it

Shedding Light on the Dark Web: Authorship Attribution in Radical Forums

Online users tend to hide their real identities by adopting different names on the Internet. On Facebook or LinkedIn, for example, people usually appear with their real names. On other standard websites, such as forums, people often use nicknames to protect their real identities. Aliases are used when users are trying to protect their anonymity. This can be a challenge to law enforcement trying to identify users who often change nicknames. In unmonitored contexts, such as the dark web, users expect strong identity protection. Thus, without censorship, these users may create parallel social networks where they can engage in potentially malicious activities that could pose security threats. In this paper, we propose a solution to the need to recognize people who anonymize themselves behind nicknames—the authorship attribution (AA) task—in the challenging context of the dark web: specifically, an English-language Islamic forum dedicated to discussions of issues related to the Islamic world and Islam, in which members of radical Islamic groups are present. We provide extensive analysis by testing models based on transformers, styles, and syntactic features. Downstream of the experiments, we show how models that analyze syntax and style perform better than pre-trained universal language models

Crypto<i>Net</i>: Using Auto-Regressive Multi-Layer Artificial Neural Networks to Predict Financial Time Series

When analyzing a financial asset, it is essential to study the trend of its time series. It is also necessary to examine its evolution and activity over time to statistically analyze its possible future behavior. Both retail and institutional investors base their trading strategies on these analyses. One of the most used techniques to study financial time series is to analyze its dynamic structure using auto-regressive models, simple moving average models (SMA), and mixed auto-regressive moving average models (ARMA). These techniques, unfortunately, do not always provide appreciable results both at a statistical level and as the Risk-Reward Ratio (RRR); above all, each system has its pros and cons. In this paper, we present CryptoNet; this system is based on the time series extraction exploiting the vast potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Specifically, we focused on time series trends extraction by developing an artificial neural network, trained and tested on two famous crypto-currencies: Bitcoinand Ether. CryptoNet learning algorithm improved the classic linear regression model up to 31% of MAE (mean absolute error). Results from this work should encourage machine learning techniques in sectors classically reluctant to adopt non-standard approaches

Dis-Cover AI Minds to Preserve Human Knowledge

Modern AI technologies make use of statistical learners that lead to self-empiricist logic, which, unlike human minds, use learned non-symbolic representations. Nevertheless, it seems that it is not the right way to progress in AI. The structure of symbols—the operations by which the intellectual solution is realized—and the search for strategic reference points evoke important issues in the analysis of AI. Studying how knowledge can be represented through methods of theoretical generalization and empirical observation is only the latest step in a long process of evolution. For many years, humans, seeing language as innate, have carried out symbolic theories. Everything seems to have skipped ahead with the advent of Machine Learning. In this paper, after a long analysis of history, the rule-based and the learning-based vision, we would investigate the syntax as possible meeting point between the different learning theories. Finally, we propose a new vision of knowledge in AI models based on a combination of rules, learning, and human knowledge

Dis-Cover AI Minds to Preserve Human Knowledge

Modern AI technologies make use of statistical learners that lead to self-empiricist logic, which, unlike human minds, use learned non-symbolic representations. Nevertheless, it seems that it is not the right way to progress in AI. The structure of symbols&mdash;the operations by which the intellectual solution is realized&mdash;and the search for strategic reference points evoke important issues in the analysis of AI. Studying how knowledge can be represented through methods of theoretical generalization and empirical observation is only the latest step in a long process of evolution. For many years, humans, seeing language as innate, have carried out symbolic theories. Everything seems to have skipped ahead with the advent of Machine Learning. In this paper, after a long analysis of history, the rule-based and the learning-based vision, we would investigate the syntax as possible meeting point between the different learning theories. Finally, we propose a new vision of knowledge in AI models based on a combination of rules, learning, and human knowledge