Tootfinder

The Memory Paradox: Why Our Brains Need Knowledge in an Age of AI
Barbara Oakley, Michael Johnston, Ken-Zen Chen, Eulho Jung, Terrence J. Sejnowski
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.11015

The Memory Paradox: Why Our Brains Need Knowledge in an Age of AI
In the age of generative AI and ubiquitous digital tools, human cognition faces a structural paradox: as external aids become more capable, internal memory systems risk atrophy. Drawing on neuroscience and cognitive psychology, this paper examines how heavy reliance on AI systems and discovery-based pedagogies may impair the consolidation of declarative and procedural memory -- systems essential for expertise, critical thinking, and long-term retention. We review how tools like ChatGPT and calc…

Inverse design for robust inference in integrated computational spectrometry
Wenchao Ma, Rapha\"el Pestourie, Zin Lin, Steven G. Johnson
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02194

Inverse design for robust inference in integrated computational spectrometry
For computational spectrometers, we propose an inverse-design approach in which the scattering media are topology-optimized to achieve better performance in inference, without the need of a training set of spectra and a distribution of detector noise. Our approach also allows the selection of the inference algorithm to be decoupled from that of the scatterer. For smooth spectra, we additionally devise a regularized reconstruction algorithm based on Chebyshev interpolation, which yields higher a…

A Direct Reduction from Stochastic Parity Games to Simple Stochastic Games
Rapha\"el Berthon, Joost-Pieter Katoen, Zihan Zhou
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.06223

A Direct Reduction from Stochastic Parity Games to Simple Stochastic Games
Significant progress has been recently achieved in developing efficient solutions for simple stochastic games (SSGs), focusing on reachability objectives. While reductions from stochastic parity games (SPGs) to SSGs have been presented in the literature through the use of multiple intermediate game models, a direct and simple reduction has been notably absent. This paper introduces a novel and direct polynomial-time reduction from quantitative SPGs to quantitative SSGs. By leveraging a gadget-b…