Thursday, March 13, 2025
CSE Seminar: Studies on Neuro-Symbolic Agents for AI Alignment and AI Grounding: A Report from the Trenches
Abstract: With the increasing prevalence of autonomous agents—ranging from hardware-based systems like drones to software-based agents such as chatbots—there has also been a rise in instances where these agents behave in unintended, unsafe, or even dangerous ways. This has driven growing interest in AI grounding and AI alignment. Briefly, an agent exhibiting AI grounding can demonstrate a connection between its outputs and the abstract concepts it represents, while an agent exhibiting AI alignment operates in a manner consistent with user’s intent values, norms. In this talk, I present my ongoing work on addressing these two key challenges. At its core, my research bridges classical symbolic AI with large language model (LLM) based AI. Classical AI agents are robust and provide fail-safe guarantees but suffer from the long-standing knowledge engineering bottleneck. In contrast, LLM-based AI bypasses this bottleneck but is inherently unreliable. My research aims to develop neuro-symbolic agents that combine the strengths of both approaches, ensuring reliability while reducing the need for extensive manual knowledge engineering.
Bio: Dr. Muñoz-Avila is a Program Director at the U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) Division, where he is cluster lead for the Information Integration and Informatics (III) program and lead for the Strengthening AI Theme for the AI Research Institutes program. Prior to joining NSF, Dr. Muñoz-Avila was a (tenured, “full”) professor of Computer Science and Engineering and of Cognitive Science at Lehigh University. He was co-director of Lehigh's Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation (I-DISC). Dr. Muñoz-Avila is recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER and held a Lehigh Class of 1961 Professorship. He has been chair for various international scientific meetings including the Sixth International Conference on Case-Based Reasoning (ICCBR-05) and the twenty-fifth Innovative Applications of AI Conference (IAAI-13). He was funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
Thursday, March 13, 2025
CSE Seminar: Studies on Neuro-Symbolic Agents for AI Alignment and AI Grounding: A Report from the Trenches
Abstract: With the increasing prevalence of autonomous agents—ranging from hardware-based systems like drones to software-based agents such as chatbots—there has also been a rise in instances where these agents behave in unintended, unsafe, or even dangerous ways. This has driven growing interest in AI grounding and AI alignment. Briefly, an agent exhibiting AI grounding can demonstrate a connection between its outputs and the abstract concepts it represents, while an agent exhibiting AI alignment operates in a manner consistent with user’s intent values, norms. In this talk, I present my ongoing work on addressing these two key challenges. At its core, my research bridges classical symbolic AI with large language model (LLM) based AI. Classical AI agents are robust and provide fail-safe guarantees but suffer from the long-standing knowledge engineering bottleneck. In contrast, LLM-based AI bypasses this bottleneck but is inherently unreliable. My research aims to develop neuro-symbolic agents that combine the strengths of both approaches, ensuring reliability while reducing the need for extensive manual knowledge engineering.
Bio: Dr. Muñoz-Avila is a Program Director at the U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) Division, where he is cluster lead for the Information Integration and Informatics (III) program and lead for the Strengthening AI Theme for the AI Research Institutes program. Prior to joining NSF, Dr. Muñoz-Avila was a (tenured, “full”) professor of Computer Science and Engineering and of Cognitive Science at Lehigh University. He was co-director of Lehigh's Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation (I-DISC). Dr. Muñoz-Avila is recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER and held a Lehigh Class of 1961 Professorship. He has been chair for various international scientific meetings including the Sixth International Conference on Case-Based Reasoning (ICCBR-05) and the twenty-fifth Innovative Applications of AI Conference (IAAI-13). He was funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Lehigh University Women's Tennis at Concordia University Irvine
Lehigh University Women's Tennis at Concordia University Irvine
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Access Culture: Exploring Art with Audio Description and Tactile Elements
Explore the Lehigh University Art Galleries Permanent Collection in a new way! In partnership with Touchstone Theatre’s "The Big Read” Initiative, this interactive program features detailed audio descriptions and hand-crafted tactile representations of selected artworks, created by LUAG accessibility students and staff.
Audio Description (AD) enhances accessibility by bringing visual images to life for people who are blind, low vision, or have visual impairments. Through detailed narration, AD captures the essential visual elements that sighted individuals might take for granted, providing a vivid, alternative way to experience art. This event is designed for blind and low-vision patrons but is free and open to all hoping to learn more about AD in action.
Click here to register for the event.
This workshop is part of the Access Culture (AD) series, which includes sessions on audio description and tactile materials. While attending all three workshops is encouraged, each can stand alone. Find links to the other events in this series on our events page and join us for one—or all!
Explore audio descriptions at LUAG before the event here!
If you require assistance filling out this form or prefer to share your registration information via email or phone, please email Elise at ejs421@lehigh.edu call 610-758-6882. Questions, concerns, and any accessibility needs can also be directed to Elise at ejs421@lehigh.edu or call 610-758-6882.
Offered in partnership with Touchstone Theatre and Sights for Hope.
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touchstone logo
cropped-1674095289.jpeg
Screenshot 2024-12-17 195425.png
please touch.png
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Access Culture: Exploring Art with Audio Description and Tactile Elements
Explore the Lehigh University Art Galleries Permanent Collection in a new way! In partnership with Touchstone Theatre’s "The Big Read” Initiative, this interactive program features detailed audio descriptions and hand-crafted tactile representations of selected artworks, created by LUAG accessibility students and staff.
Audio Description (AD) enhances accessibility by bringing visual images to life for people who are blind, low vision, or have visual impairments. Through detailed narration, AD captures the essential visual elements that sighted individuals might take for granted, providing a vivid, alternative way to experience art. This event is designed for blind and low-vision patrons but is free and open to all hoping to learn more about AD in action.
Click here to register for the event.
This workshop is part of the Access Culture (AD) series, which includes sessions on audio description and tactile materials. While attending all three workshops is encouraged, each can stand alone. Find links to the other events in this series on our events page and join us for one—or all!
Explore audio descriptions at LUAG before the event here!
If you require assistance filling out this form or prefer to share your registration information via email or phone, please email Elise at ejs421@lehigh.edu call 610-758-6882. Questions, concerns, and any accessibility needs can also be directed to Elise at ejs421@lehigh.edu or call 610-758-6882.
Offered in partnership with Touchstone Theatre and Sights for Hope.
unnamed.png
touchstone logo
cropped-1674095289.jpeg
Screenshot 2024-12-17 195425.png
please touch.png
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Digital safety made easy: From MFA to fighting phishing and ransomware
Enhance your cybersecurity with practical tips on multi-factor authentication, phishing prevention, and password management using tools like Duo and Keeper Security Password Manager.
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Digital safety made easy: From MFA to fighting phishing and ransomware
Enhance your cybersecurity with practical tips on multi-factor authentication, phishing prevention, and password management using tools like Duo and Keeper Security Password Manager.
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Lehigh University Women's Tennis at Concordia University Irvine
Lehigh University Women's Tennis at Concordia University Irvine
Thursday, March 13, 2025
On-Campus Group Information Session (No Tour)-3/13/25-09:45AM
In the Group Information Session, an Office of Admissions staff member will share stories about unique and exclusive academic and research experiences, our vibrant community, traditions, and life in PA?s third largest metro area. The supportive Lehigh family and strong career placement are also discussed. The approximately 45-minute session concludes with admissions and financial aid basics. Because of the time in the academic year, there is no tour offered as part of this event. Visitors are welcome to take a self-guided tour of campus on their own by utilizing the Campus Guide and Walking Tour, available at check-in, and the accompanying student-recorded audio guide, which can be accessed on your mobile device by visiting lehigh.edu/audioguide . To learn more about first-year housing facilities, you can visit our housing website and view 360 degree panoramic images of the different types of residence halls We are asking visitors to limit the total number in their party, including the student, to a maximum of three people. Advance registration is required. In the event you need to bring additional people, please email admissions@lehigh.edu. P lease note: A confirmation should be delivered to your email within 5-10 minute s; if you do not receive it, please check your spam box.
Thursday, March 13, 2025
On-Campus Group Information Session (No Tour)-3/13/25-09:45AM
In the Group Information Session, an Office of Admissions staff member will share stories about unique and exclusive academic and research experiences, our vibrant community, traditions, and life in PA?s third largest metro area. The supportive Lehigh family and strong career placement are also discussed. The approximately 45-minute session concludes with admissions and financial aid basics. Because of the time in the academic year, there is no tour offered as part of this event. Visitors are welcome to take a self-guided tour of campus on their own by utilizing the Campus Guide and Walking Tour, available at check-in, and the accompanying student-recorded audio guide, which can be accessed on your mobile device by visiting lehigh.edu/audioguide . To learn more about first-year housing facilities, you can visit our housing website and view 360 degree panoramic images of the different types of residence halls We are asking visitors to limit the total number in their party, including the student, to a maximum of three people. Advance registration is required. In the event you need to bring additional people, please email admissions@lehigh.edu. P lease note: A confirmation should be delivered to your email within 5-10 minute s; if you do not receive it, please check your spam box.