Yiyi Ma

Wenke Huang, Jian Liang, Xianda Guo et al.

Multi-modal Large Language Models (MLLMs) integrate visual and linguistic reasoning to address complex tasks such as image captioning and visual question answering. While MLLMs demonstrate remarkable versatility, MLLMs appears limited performance on special applications. But tuning MLLMs for downstream tasks encounters two key challenges: Task-Expert Specialization, where distribution shifts between pre-training and target datasets constrain target performance, and Open-World Stabilization, where catastrophic forgetting erases the model general knowledge. In this work, we systematically review recent advancements in MLLM tuning methodologies, classifying them into three paradigms: (I) Selective Tuning, (II) Additive Tuning, and (III) Reparameterization Tuning. Furthermore, we benchmark these tuning strategies across popular MLLM architectures and diverse downstream tasks to establish standardized evaluation analysis and systematic tuning principles. Finally, we highlight several open challenges in this domain and propose future research directions. To facilitate ongoing progress in this rapidly evolving field, we provide a public repository that continuously tracks developments: https://github.com/WenkeHuang/Awesome-MLLM-Tuning.

Yiran Rex Ma

Table reasoning, including tabular QA and fact verification, often depends on annotated data or complex data augmentation, limiting flexibility and generalization. LLMs, despite their versatility, often underperform compared to simple supervised models. To approach these issues, we introduce PanelTR, a framework utilizing LLM agent scientists for robust table reasoning through a structured scientific approach. PanelTR's workflow involves agent scientists conducting individual investigations, engaging in self-review, and participating in collaborative peer-review discussions. This process, driven by five scientist personas, enables semantic-level transfer without relying on data augmentation or parametric optimization. Experiments across four benchmarks show that PanelTR outperforms vanilla LLMs and rivals fully supervised models, all while remaining independent of training data. Our findings indicate that structured scientific methodology can effectively handle complex tasks beyond table reasoning with flexible semantic understanding in a zero-shot context.