CRANT Talks Series: Some thinking about LLM reasoning ability

School of Science and Technology CRANT Talks Series: Some thinking about LLM reasoning ability

CRANT Talks Series: Some thinking about LLM reasoning ability

Speaker: Professor Wang Xizhao, Shenzhen University
Organizer: CRANT, S&T, HKMU
Date: 18 December 2024 (Wednesday)
Time: 10:30 AM – 12:00 NN
Location: D0810, Jockey Club Campus (JCC), HKMU

Title

Some thinking about LLM reasoning ability

Abstract

The generative artificial intelligence (GAI) and the large language model (LLM) emerged in recent decade are leading to a revolution of AI in academic world and industrial circle. Since Chat GPT-4, LLMs begin to develop quickly and, with respect to many specific tasks, LLMs have the emergent phenomena. However, with the many LLM applications, several critical problems are disclosed such as uncertain answers to the same query, critical mistakes for simple queries, and little ability of human-like reasoning. Focusing on the problem whether or not LLMs have the reasoning ability of human-like, this talk shares some study notes of the speaker and some personal thinking.

Biographies

Xizhao Wang received his PhD from Harbin Institute of Technology in 1998. He is currently a professor at college of computer science in Shenzhen University. Previously he was the dean of computer science college in Hebei university from 2000 to 2014.

Prof. Wang's current research interests include uncertainty-aware machine learning and lightweight of large language model. He pioneered the research on Machine Learning in uncertain environment, and published several monographs and textbooks, and over 300 research papers at conferences and in journals. His works have been cited 14,178 times according to Google scholar in 2023. He was on the list of Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate in 2019 and 2020, in recognition of exceptional research performance demonstrated by production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the cross-field top 1%.

Prof. Wang is an IEEE Fellow (2012), a CAAI Fellow (2017), and the Editor-in-Chief of Springer Journal Machine Learning and Cybernetics (from 2010 to present).

Jonathan Chiu
Marketing Director
3DP Technology Limited

Jonathan handles all external affairs include business development, patents write up and public relations. He is frequently interviewed by media and is considered a pioneer in 3D printing products.

Krutz Cheuk
Biomedical Engineer
Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital

After graduating from OUHK, Krutz obtained an M.Sc. in Engineering Management from CityU. He is now completing his second master degree, M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, at CUHK. Krutz has a wide range of working experience. He has been with Siemens, VTech, and PCCW.

Hugo Leung
Software and Hardware Engineer
Innovation Team Company Limited

Hugo Leung Wai-yin, who graduated from his four-year programme in 2015, won the Best Paper Award for his ‘intelligent pill-dispenser’ design at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering’s International Conference on Consumer Electronics – China 2015.

The pill-dispenser alerts patients via sound and LED flashes to pre-set dosage and time intervals. Unlike units currently on the market, Hugo’s design connects to any mobile phone globally. In explaining how it works, he said: ‘There are three layers in the portable pillbox. The lowest level is a controller with various devices which can be connected to mobile phones in remote locations. Patients are alerted by a sound alarm and flashes. Should they fail to follow their prescribed regime, data can be sent via SMS to relatives and friends for follow up.’ The pill-dispenser has four medicine slots, plus a back-up with a LED alert, topped by a 500ml water bottle. It took Hugo three months of research and coding to complete his design, but he feels it was worth all his time and effort.

Hugo’s public examination results were disappointing and he was at a loss about his future before enrolling at the OUHK, which he now realizes was a major turning point in his life. He is grateful for the OUHK’s learning environment, its industry links and the positive guidance and encouragement from his teachers. The University is now exploring the commercial potential of his design with a pharmaceutical company. He hopes that this will benefit the elderly and chronically ill, as well as the society at large.

Soon after completing his studies, Hugo joined an automation technology company as an assistant engineer. He is responsible for the design and development of automation devices. The target is to minimize human labor and increase the quality of products. He is developing products which are used in various sections, including healthcare, manufacturing and consumer electronics.

Course Code Title Credits
  COMP S321F Advanced Database and Data Warehousing 5
  COMP S333F Advanced Programming and AI Algorithms 5
  COMP S351F Software Project Management 5
  COMP S362F Concurrent and Network Programming 5
  COMP S363F Distributed Systems and Parallel Computing 5
  COMP S382F Data Mining and Analytics 5
  COMP S390F Creative Programming for Games 5
  COMP S492F Machine Learning 5
  ELEC S305F Computer Networking 5
  ELEC S348F IOT Security 5
  ELEC S371F Digital Forensics 5
  ELEC S431F Blockchain Technologies 5
  ELEC S425F Computer and Network Security 5
 Course CodeTitleCredits
 ELEC S201FBasic Electronics5
 IT S290FHuman Computer Interaction & User Experience Design5
 STAT S251FStatistical Data Analysis5
 Course CodeTitleCredits
 COMPS333FAdvanced Programming and AI Algorithms5
 COMPS362FConcurrent and Network Programming5
 COMPS363FDistributed Systems and Parallel Computing5
 COMPS380FWeb Applications: Design and Development5
 COMPS381FServer-side Technologies and Cloud Computing5
 COMPS382FData Mining and Analytics5
 COMPS390FCreative Programming for Games5
 COMPS413FApplication Design and Development for Mobile Devices5
 COMPS492FMachine Learning5
 ELECS305FComputer Networking5
 ELECS363FAdvanced Computer Design5
 ELECS425FComputer and Network Security5