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Securing the Supply Chain of Large Language Models as Software with Explainable AI and Humans in the Loop

Dr. Ziyu Yao
Dr. Ziyu Yao

Dr. Ziyu Yao

KEY INTERESTS

Natural language processing; Artificial intelligence; Human-AI interaction; Language and code semantics; Efficient machine learning

AFFILIATIONS/APPOINTMENTS

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, George Mason University

ACADEMIC DEGREES

BE, Communication Engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications

PhD, Computer Science and Engineering, Ohio State University

SECURING THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS AS SOFTWARE WITH EXPLAINABLE AI AND HUMANS IN THE LOOP

Large language models, or LLMs, have appeared as the “game changers” and now beenincreasingly used in a variety of applications and domains, including the supply chain industry. In this age of “LLMs as software”, it becomes particularly important for industrial practitioners to gain sufficient understanding on the potential risks of LLM-based applications and the solutions to defend them. Notably, this is a topic that is still largely understudied. This research fills this gap by first proposing a novel investigation on the software supply chain vulnerabilities of LLMs when they are used with “prompt engineering”, an emerging paradigm only enabled by the advanced LLMs. The project seeks to then devise a novel approach to defend LLM-based software, leveraging Explainable AI and Human-AI interaction.