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George Kurian

Publications and source records attributed to George Kurian.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

World Action Models are Zero-shot Policies

State-of-the-art Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models excel at semantic generalization but struggle to generalize to unseen physical motions in novel environments. We introduce DreamZero, a World Action Model (WAM) built upon a pretrained video diffusion backbone. Unlike VLAs, WAMs learn physical dynamics by predicting future world states and actions, using video as a dense representation of how the world evolves. By jointly modeling video and action, DreamZero learns diverse skills effectively from heterogeneous robot data without relying on repetitive demonstrations. This results in over 2x improvement in generalization to new tasks and environments compared to state-of-the-art VLAs in real robot experiments. Crucially, through model and system optimizations, we enable a 14B autoregressive video diffusion model to perform real-time closed-loop control at 7Hz. Finally, we demonstrate two forms of cross-embodiment transfer: video-only demonstrations from other robots or humans yield a relative improvement of over 42% on unseen task performance with just 10-20 minutes of data. More surprisingly, DreamZero enables few-shot embodiment adaptation, transferring to a new embodiment with only 30 minutes of play data while retaining zero-shot generalization.

cs.RO

DreamDojo: A Generalist Robot World Model from Large-Scale Human Videos

Being able to simulate the outcomes of actions in varied environments will revolutionize the development of generalist agents at scale. However, modeling these world dynamics, especially for dexterous robotics tasks, poses significant challenges due to limited data coverage and scarce action labels. As an endeavor towards this end, we introduce DreamDojo, a foundation world model that learns diverse interactions and dexterous controls from 44k hours of egocentric human videos. Our data mixture represents the largest video dataset to date for world model pretraining, spanning a wide range of daily scenarios with diverse objects and skills. To address the scarcity of action labels, we introduce continuous latent actions as unified proxy actions, enhancing interaction knowledge transfer from unlabeled videos. After post-training on small-scale target robot data, DreamDojo demonstrates a strong understanding of physics and precise action controllability. We also devise a distillation pipeline that accelerates DreamDojo to a real-time speed of 10.81 FPS and further improves context consistency. Our work enables several important applications based on generative world models, including live teleoperation, policy evaluation, and model-based planning. Systematic evaluation on multiple challenging out-of-distribution (OOD) benchmarks verifies the significance of our method for simulating open-world, contact-rich tasks, paving the way for general-purpose robot world models.

cs.RO

Cosmos-Reason1: From Physical Common Sense To Embodied Reasoning

Physical AI systems need to perceive, understand, and perform complex actions in the physical world. In this paper, we present the Cosmos-Reason1 models that can understand the physical world and generate appropriate embodied decisions (e.g., next step action) in natural language through long chain-of-thought reasoning processes. We begin by defining key capabilities for Physical AI reasoning, with a focus on physical common sense and embodied reasoning. To represent physical common sense, we use a hierarchical ontology that captures fundamental knowledge about space, time, and physics. For embodied reasoning, we rely on a two-dimensional ontology that generalizes across different physical embodiments. Building on these capabilities, we develop two multimodal large language models, Cosmos-Reason1-7B and Cosmos-Reason1-56B. We curate data and train our models in two stages: Physical AI supervised fine-tuning (SFT) and Physical AI reinforcement learning (RL). To evaluate our models, we build comprehensive benchmarks for physical common sense and embodied reasoning according to our ontologies. Evaluation results show that Physical AI SFT and RL bring significant improvements. To facilitate the development of Physical AI, we make our code and pre-trained models available under the NVIDIA Open Model License at https://github.com/nvidia-cosmos/cosmos-reason1.

cs.AI

Scalable Machine Learning Training Infrastructure for Online Ads Recommendation and Auction Scoring Modeling at Google

Large-scale Ads recommendation and auction scoring models at Google scale demand immense computational resources. While specialized hardware like TPUs have improved linear algebra computations, bottlenecks persist in large-scale systems. This paper proposes solutions for three critical challenges that must be addressed for efficient end-to-end execution in a widely used production infrastructure: (1) Input Generation and Ingestion Pipeline: Efficiently transforming raw features (e.g., "search query") into numerical inputs and streaming them to TPUs; (2) Large Embedding Tables: Optimizing conversion of sparse features into dense floating-point vectors for neural network consumption; (3) Interruptions and Error Handling: Minimizing resource wastage in large-scale shared datacenters. To tackle these challenges, we propose a shared input generation technique to reduce computational load of input generation by amortizing costs across many models. Furthermore, we propose partitioning, pipelining, and RPC (Remote Procedure Call) coalescing software techniques to optimize embedding operations. To maintain efficiency at scale, we describe novel preemption notice and training hold mechanisms that minimize resource wastage, and ensure prompt error resolution. These techniques have demonstrated significant improvement in Google production, achieving a 116% performance boost and an 18% reduction in training costs across representative models.

cs.DC

Construal Level and Cognitive Reflection in Newsvendor Games: Unveiling the Influence of Individual Heterogeneity on Decision-Making

During the last decade, scholars have studied the behavior of decision-making in newsvendor settings and have identified numerous behavior patterns for deviating from normative behavior. However, there is a dearth of research which have examined the influence of individual heterogeneity on decision-making in newsvendor settings. This study examines the level of construal (Abstract and concrete) using construal level theory (CLT) on performance in newsvendor games. In addition, this study measures the cognitive reflection of individuals using cognitive reflection test (CRT) ex-ante to analyze the true impact of how people construe a problem and its impact on their decision-making.

physics.soc-ph

Determinants of Human Development Index (HDI): A Regression Analysis of Economic and Social Indicators

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the Human Development Index (HDI). Five variables-GDP per capita, health expenditure, education expenditure, infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births), and average years of schooling-were analyzed to develop a regression model assessing their impact on HDI. The results indicate that GDP per capita, infant mortality rate, and average years of schooling are significant predictors of HDI. Specifically, the study finds a positive relationship between GDP per capita and average years of schooling with HDI, while infant mortality rate is negatively associated with HDI.

cs.CY

The Dead Internet Theory: A Survey on Artificial Interactions and the Future of Social Media

The Dead Internet Theory (DIT) suggests that much of today's internet, particularly social media, is dominated by non-human activity, AI-generated content, and corporate agendas, leading to a decline in authentic human interaction. This study explores the origins, core claims, and implications of DIT, emphasizing its relevance in the context of social media platforms. The theory emerged as a response to the perceived homogenization of online spaces, highlighting issues like the proliferation of bots, algorithmically generated content, and the prioritization of engagement metrics over genuine user interaction. AI technologies play a central role in this phenomenon, as social media platforms increasingly use algorithms and machine learning to curate content, drive engagement, and maximize advertising revenue. While these tools enhance scalability and personalization, they also prioritize virality and consumption over authentic communication, contributing to the erosion of trust, the loss of content diversity, and a dehumanized internet experience. This study redefines DIT in the context of social media, proposing that the commodification of content consumption for revenue has taken precedence over meaningful human connectivity. By focusing on engagement metrics, platforms foster a sense of artificiality and disconnection, underscoring the need for human-centric approaches to revive authentic online interaction and community building.

cs.CY

A Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) Semantic Text Analytics Approach to Explore Topical Features in Charity Crowdfunding Campaigns

Crowdfunding in the realm of the Social Web has received substantial attention, with prior research examining various aspects of campaigns, including project objectives, durations, and influential project categories for successful fundraising. These factors are crucial for entrepreneurs seeking donor support. However, the terrain of charity crowdfunding within the Social Web remains relatively unexplored, lacking comprehension of the motivations driving donations that often lack concrete reciprocation. Distinct from conventional crowdfunding that offers tangible returns, charity crowdfunding relies on intangible rewards like tax advantages, recognition posts, or advisory roles. Such details are often embedded within campaign narratives, yet, the analysis of textual content in charity crowdfunding is limited. This study introduces an inventive text analytics framework, utilizing Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to extract latent themes from textual descriptions of charity campaigns. The study has explored four different themes, two each in campaign and incentive descriptions. Campaign description themes are focused on child and elderly health mainly the ones who are diagnosed with terminal diseases. Incentive description themes are based on tax benefits, certificates, and appreciation posts. These themes, combined with numerical parameters, predict campaign success. The study was successful in using Random Forest Classifier to predict success of the campaign using both thematic and numerical parameters. The study distinguishes thematic categories, particularly medical need-based charity and general causes, based on project and incentive descriptions. In conclusion, this research bridges the gap by showcasing topic modelling utility in uncharted charity crowdfunding domains.

cs.CL

Navigating the Docker Ecosystem: A Comprehensive Taxonomy and Survey

The cloud computing landscape is rapidly expanding and growing in complexity. It has witnessed the emergence of Cloud Computing as a widely adopted model for efficiently processing large volumes of data by harnessing clusters of commodity computers. This evolution enables the handling of massive data through on-demand services, relying on numerous microservices with diverse dependencies. The technology of containers ensures secure storage, allowing for largescale data processing with high scalability and portability. Container technology, particularly exemplified by Docker in the last decade, plays a pivotal role in this scenario. It empowers microservices to process data swiftly, enabling developers to dynamically scale these services in real-time. This paper initiates by establishing a comprehensive taxonomy for delineating container architecture. Focusing specifically on Docker containers, we scrutinize various existing container related literature. Through this taxonomy and survey, we not only discern similarities and disparities in the architectural approaches of Docker container technology but also pinpoint areas necessitating further research.

cs.DC

Risk of AI in Healthcare: A Comprehensive Literature Review and Study Framework

This study conducts a thorough examination of the research stream focusing on AI risks in healthcare, aiming to explore the distinct genres within this domain. A selection criterion was employed to carefully analyze 39 articles to identify three primary genres of AI risks prevalent in healthcare: clinical data risks, technical risks, and socio-ethical risks. Selection criteria was based on journal ranking and impact factor. The research seeks to provide a valuable resource for future healthcare researchers, furnishing them with a comprehensive understanding of the complex challenges posed by AI implementation in healthcare settings. By categorizing and elucidating these genres, the study aims to facilitate the development of empirical qualitative and quantitative research, fostering evidence-based approaches to address AI-related risks in healthcare effectively. This endeavor contributes to building a robust knowledge base that can inform the formulation of risk mitigation strategies, ensuring safe and efficient integration of AI technologies in healthcare practices. Thus, it is important to study AI risks in healthcare to build better and efficient AI systems and mitigate risks.

cs.CY

Econometrics Modelling Approach to Examine the Effect of STEM Policy Changes on Asian Students Enrollment Decision in USA

Academic research has shown significant interest in international student mobility, with previous literature primarily focusing on the migration industry from a political and public policy perspective. For many countries, international student mobility plays a crucial role in bolstering their economies through financial gains and attracting skilled immigrants. While previous studies have explored the determinants of mobility and country economic policies, only a few have examined the impact of policy changes on mobility trends. In this study, the researchers investigate the influence of immigration policy changes, particularly the optional practical training (OPT) extension on STEM programs, on Asian students' preference for enrolling in STEM majors at universities. The study utilizes observational data and employs a quasi-experimental design, analysing the information using the difference-in-difference technique. The findings of the research indicate that the implementation of the STEM extension policy in 2008 has a significant effect on Asian students' decisions to enroll in a STEM major. Additionally, the study highlights the noteworthy role of individual factors such as the specific STEM major, terminal degree pursued, and gender in influencing Asian students' enrollment decisions.

econ.GN

TPU v4: An Optically Reconfigurable Supercomputer for Machine Learning with Hardware Support for Embeddings

In response to innovations in machine learning (ML) models, production workloads changed radically and rapidly. TPU v4 is the fifth Google domain specific architecture (DSA) and its third supercomputer for such ML models. Optical circuit switches (OCSes) dynamically reconfigure its interconnect topology to improve scale, availability, utilization, modularity, deployment, security, power, and performance; users can pick a twisted 3D torus topology if desired. Much cheaper, lower power, and faster than Infiniband, OCSes and underlying optical components are <5% of system cost and <3% of system power. Each TPU v4 includes SparseCores, dataflow processors that accelerate models that rely on embeddings by 5x-7x yet use only 5% of die area and power. Deployed since 2020, TPU v4 outperforms TPU v3 by 2.1x and improves performance/Watt by 2.7x. The TPU v4 supercomputer is 4x larger at 4096 chips and thus ~10x faster overall, which along with OCS flexibility helps large language models. For similar sized systems, it is ~4.3x-4.5x faster than the Graphcore IPU Bow and is 1.2x-1.7x faster and uses 1.3x-1.9x less power than the Nvidia A100. TPU v4s inside the energy-optimized warehouse scale computers of Google Cloud use ~3x less energy and produce ~20x less CO2e than contemporary DSAs in a typical on-premise data center.

cs.AR

Empirical study to explore the influence of salesperson's customer orientation on customer loyalty

This study tries to examine the influence of salesperson's customer orientation on customer loyalty. Customer orientation is the approach taken by a salesperson to improve customer relationship and increase sales. Many organizations prefer sales orientation as a strategic approach towards increasing sales. Though successful in its objective, sales orientation fails to attract repetitive purchase. It has become a necessity to train frontline employees to better understand the customer needs, keeping in mind the firm's ultimate objective. This study examines the improvements customer orientation can bring to increase repurchases thus leading to customer loyalty. The findings suggest that product assortment, long lines of customers, customers' annual income, and the listening skills of salesperson were the significant antecedents of customer loyalty.

stat.AP

Google's Neural Machine Translation System: Bridging the Gap between Human and Machine Translation

Neural Machine Translation (NMT) is an end-to-end learning approach for automated translation, with the potential to overcome many of the weaknesses of conventional phrase-based translation systems. Unfortunately, NMT systems are known to be computationally expensive both in training and in translation inference. Also, most NMT systems have difficulty with rare words. These issues have hindered NMT's use in practical deployments and services, where both accuracy and speed are essential. In this work, we present GNMT, Google's Neural Machine Translation system, which attempts to address many of these issues. Our model consists of a deep LSTM network with 8 encoder and 8 decoder layers using attention and residual connections. To improve parallelism and therefore decrease training time, our attention mechanism connects the bottom layer of the decoder to the top layer of the encoder. To accelerate the final translation speed, we employ low-precision arithmetic during inference computations. To improve handling of rare words, we divide words into a limited set of common sub-word units ("wordpieces") for both input and output. This method provides a good balance between the flexibility of "character"-delimited models and the efficiency of "word"-delimited models, naturally handles translation of rare words, and ultimately improves the overall accuracy of the system. Our beam search technique employs a length-normalization procedure and uses a coverage penalty, which encourages generation of an output sentence that is most likely to cover all the words in the source sentence. On the WMT'14 English-to-French and English-to-German benchmarks, GNMT achieves competitive results to state-of-the-art. Using a human side-by-side evaluation on a set of isolated simple sentences, it reduces translation errors by an average of 60% compared to Google's phrase-based production system.

cs.CL