Yujin Kim

Mengting Wan, Tara Safavi, Sujay Kumar Jauhar et al.

Transforming unstructured text into structured and meaningful forms, organized by useful category labels, is a fundamental step in text mining for downstream analysis and application. However, most existing methods for producing label taxonomies and building text-based label classifiers still rely heavily on domain expertise and manual curation, making the process expensive and time-consuming. This is particularly challenging when the label space is under-specified and large-scale data annotations are unavailable. In this paper, we address these challenges with Large Language Models (LLMs), whose prompt-based interface facilitates the induction and use of large-scale pseudo labels. We propose TnT-LLM, a two-phase framework that employs LLMs to automate the process of end-to-end label generation and assignment with minimal human effort for any given use-case. In the first phase, we introduce a zero-shot, multi-stage reasoning approach which enables LLMs to produce and refine a label taxonomy iteratively. In the second phase, LLMs are used as data labelers that yield training samples so that lightweight supervised classifiers can be reliably built, deployed, and served at scale. We apply TnT-LLM to the analysis of user intent and conversational domain for Bing Copilot (formerly Bing Chat), an open-domain chat-based search engine. Extensive experiments using both human and automatic evaluation metrics demonstrate that TnT-LLM generates more accurate and relevant label taxonomies when compared against state-of-the-art baselines, and achieves a favorable balance between accuracy and efficiency for classification at scale. We also share our practical experiences and insights on the challenges and opportunities of using LLMs for large-scale text mining in real-world applications.

Yujin Kim, Euiin Yi, Minu Kim et al.

The limited reasoning capabilities of small language models (SLMs) cast doubt on their suitability for tasks demanding deep, multi-step logical deduction. This paper introduces a framework called Small Reasons, Large Hints (SMART), which selectively augments SLM reasoning with targeted guidance from large language models (LLMs). Inspired by the concept of cognitive scaffolding, SMART employs a score-based evaluation to identify uncertain reasoning steps and injects corrective LLM-generated reasoning only when necessary. By framing structured reasoning as an optimal policy search, our approach steers the reasoning trajectory toward correct solutions without exhaustive sampling. Our experiments on mathematical reasoning datasets demonstrate that targeted external scaffolding significantly improves performance, paving the way for collaborative use of both SLM and LLM to tackle complex reasoning tasks that are currently unsolvable by SLMs alone.

Yujin Kim, Chin-Chia Hsu

Large Language Models (LLMs) hold the potential to perform a variety of text processing tasks and provide textual explanations for proposed actions or decisions. In the era of hybrid work, LLMs can provide intelligent decision support for workers who are designing their hybrid work plans. In particular, they can offer suggestions and explanations to workers balancing numerous decision factors, thereby enhancing their work experience. In this paper, we present a decision support model for workspaces in hybrid work environments, leveraging the reasoning skill of LLMs. We first examine LLM's capability of making suitable workspace suggestions. We find that its reasoning extends beyond the guidelines in the prompt and the LLM can manage the trade-off among the available resources in the workspaces. We conduct an extensive user study to understand workers' decision process for workspace choices and evaluate the effectiveness of the system. We observe that a worker's decision could be influenced by the LLM's suggestions and explanations. The participants in our study find the system to be convenient, regardless of whether reasons are provided or not. Our results show that employees can benefit from the LLM-empowered system for their workspace selection in hybrid workplace.

Gihun Lee, Minchan Jeong, Yujin Kim et al.

While learning to align Large Language Models (LLMs) with human preferences has shown remarkable success, aligning these models to meet the diverse user preferences presents further challenges in preserving previous knowledge. This paper examines the impact of personalized preference optimization on LLMs, revealing that the extent of knowledge loss varies significantly with preference heterogeneity. Although previous approaches have utilized the KL constraint between the reference model and the policy model, we observe that they fail to maintain general knowledge and alignment when facing personalized preferences. To this end, we introduce Base-Anchored Preference Optimization (BAPO), a simple yet effective approach that utilizes the initial responses of reference model to mitigate forgetting while accommodating personalized alignment. BAPO effectively adapts to diverse user preferences while minimally affecting global knowledge or general alignment. Our experiments demonstrate the efficacy of BAPO in various setups.

Jungseob Lee, Midan Shim, Suhyune Son et al.

BlenderBot 2.0 is a dialogue model that represents open-domain chatbots by reflecting real-time information and remembering user information for an extended period using an internet search module and multi-session. Nonetheless, the model still has room for improvement. To this end, we examine BlenderBot 2.0 limitations and errors from three perspectives: model, data, and user. From the data point of view, we highlight the unclear guidelines provided to workers during the crowdsourcing process, as well as a lack of a process for refining hate speech in the collected data and verifying the accuracy of internet-based information. From a user perspective, we identify nine types of limitations of BlenderBot 2.0, and their causes are thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, for each point of view, we propose practical improvement methods and discuss several potential future research directions.