Compiling to recurrent neurons

Discrete structures are currently second-class in differentiable programming. Since functions over discrete structures lack overt derivatives, differentiable programs do not differentiate through them and limit where they can be used. For example, when programming a neural network, conditionals and iteration cannot be used everywhere; they can break the derivatives necessary for gradient-based learning to work. This limits the class of differentiable algorithms we can directly express, imposing restraints on how we build neural networks and differentiable programs more generally. However, these restraints are not fundamental. Recent work shows conditionals can be first-class, by compiling them into differentiable form as linear neurons. Similarly, this work shows iteration can be first-class -- by compiling to linear recurrent neurons. We present a minimal typed, higher-order and linear programming language with iteration called $\textsf{Cajal}\scriptstyle(\mathbb{\multimap}, \mathbb{2}, \mathbb{N})$. We prove its programs compile correctly to recurrent neurons, allowing discrete algorithms to be expressed in a differentiable form compatible with gradient-based learning. With our implementation, we conduct two experiments where we link these recurrent neurons against a neural network solving an iterative image transformation task. This determines part of its function prior to learning. As a result, the network learns faster and with greater data-efficiency relative to a neural network programmed without first-class iteration. A key lesson is that recurrent neurons enable a rich interplay between learning and the discrete structures of ordinary programming.

Compiling to linear neurons

We don't program neural networks directly. Instead, we rely on an indirect style where learning algorithms, like gradient descent, determine a neural network's function by learning from data. This indirect style is often a virtue; it empowers us to solve problems that were previously impossible. But it lacks discrete structure. We can't compile most algorithms into a neural network -- even if these algorithms could help the network learn. This limitation occurs because discrete algorithms are not obviously differentiable, making them incompatible with the gradient-based learning algorithms that determine a neural network's function. To address this, we introduce $\textsf{Cajal}$: a typed, higher-order and linear programming language intended to be a minimal vehicle for exploring a direct style of programming neural networks. We prove $\textsf{Cajal}$ programs compile to linear neurons, allowing discrete algorithms to be expressed in a differentiable form compatible with gradient-based learning. With our implementation of $\textsf{Cajal}$, we conduct several experiments where we link these linear neurons against other neural networks to determine part of their function prior to learning. Linking with these neurons allows networks to learn faster, with greater data-efficiency, and in a way that's easier to debug. A key lesson is that linear programming languages provide a path towards directly programming neural networks, enabling a rich interplay between learning and the discrete structures of ordinary programming.

A Fast, Reliable, and Secure Programming Language for LLM Agents with Code Actions

Modern large language models (LLMs) are often deployed as agents, calling external tools adaptively to solve tasks. Rather than directly calling tools, it can be more effective for LLMs to write code to perform the tool calls, enabling them to automatically generate complex control flow such as conditionals and loops. Such code actions are typically provided as Python code, since LLMs are quite proficient at it; however, Python may not be the ideal language due to limited built-in support for performance, security, and reliability. We propose a novel programming language for code actions, called Quasar, which has several benefits: (1) automated parallelization to improve performance, (2) uncertainty quantification to improve reliability and mitigate hallucinations, and (3) security features enabling the user to validate actions. LLMs can write code in a subset of Python, which is automatically transpiled to Quasar. We evaluate our approach on the ViperGPT visual question answering agent, applied to the GQA dataset, demonstrating that LLMs with Quasar actions instead of Python actions retain strong performance, while reducing execution time when possible by 42%, improving security by reducing user approval interactions when possible by 52%, and improving reliability by applying conformal prediction to achieve a desired target coverage level.

Counterfactual Explanations for Natural Language Interfaces

A key challenge facing natural language interfaces is enabling users to understand the capabilities of the underlying system. We propose a novel approach for generating explanations of a natural language interface based on semantic parsing. We focus on counterfactual explanations, which are post-hoc explanations that describe to the user how they could have minimally modified their utterance to achieve their desired goal. In particular, the user provides an utterance along with a demonstration of their desired goal; then, our algorithm synthesizes a paraphrase of their utterance that is guaranteed to achieve their goal. In two user studies, we demonstrate that our approach substantially improves user performance, and that it generates explanations that more closely match the user's intent compared to two ablations.