Search Results

Documents authored by Fisler, Kathi

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2026.22
Meaningful Human-in-the-Loop Checking of GenAI Synthesis for Restricted Languages

Authors: Siddhartha Prasad, Skyler Austen, Kathi Fisler, and Shriram Krishnamurthi

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 372, 40th European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2026)

Abstract
Developers routinely use GenAI tools (large language models enriched in various ways) to generate useful components of programs, such as regular expressions. While pleasant and often effective, this can easily lead to subtle bugs. The developer may have been unclear in their specification, they may not fully understand the language of the output, there may be systematic misconceptions suffered by the user and perhaps even embedded in the language model, and so on. Responsible use of GenAI requires humans in the loop. To be effective, the human interaction must be both meaningful and moderate. We accomplish this as follows. First, we generate multiple candidate expressions instead of one. We then use formal language containment properties to generate distinguishing concrete scenarios that illustrate the differences between the candidates. We then have users rate these concrete scenarios. This process converges in a few steps, while also giving the user insight into any lack of clarity on their part. We have built a tool, pick, that implements this iterative process. We apply it to three formal languages with the necessary properties: regexes, linear temporal logic, and access-control policies. We show through experiments that pick is a significant improvement over showing users the candidate expressions, and also helps catch situations where no output is a match.
Cite as

Siddhartha Prasad, Skyler Austen, Kathi Fisler, and Shriram Krishnamurthi. Meaningful Human-in-the-Loop Checking of GenAI Synthesis for Restricted Languages. In 40th European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 372, pp. 22:1-22:31, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{prasad_et_al:LIPIcs.ECOOP.2026.22,
  author =	{Prasad, Siddhartha and Austen, Skyler and Fisler, Kathi and Krishnamurthi, Shriram},
  title =	{{Meaningful Human-in-the-Loop Checking of GenAI Synthesis for Restricted Languages}},
  booktitle =	{40th European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2026)},
  pages =	{22:1--22:31},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-423-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{372},
  editor =	{Krebbers, Robbert and Silva, Alexandra},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2026.22},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-261181},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2026.22},
  annote =	{Keywords: Regex, LTL, Access Control, Generative AI, Human-in-the-Loop}
}
Document
Artifact
DOI: 10.4230/DARTS.12.1.7
Meaningful Human-in-the-Loop Checking of GenAI Synthesis for Restricted Languages (Artifact)

Authors: Siddhartha Prasad, Skyler Austen, Kathi Fisler, and Shriram Krishnamurthi

Published in: DARTS, Volume 12, Issue 1, Special Issue of the 40th European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2026)

Abstract
This artifact accompanies the paper Meaningful Human-in-the-Loop Checking of GenAI Synthesis for Restricted Languages. It provides (1) the pick VS Code extension for regex synthesis with human-in-the-loop validation, and (2) anonymized user-study data and Docker images that reproduce the study interfaces and statistical analyses reported in the paper.
Cite as

Siddhartha Prasad, Skyler Austen, Kathi Fisler, and Shriram Krishnamurthi. Meaningful Human-in-the-Loop Checking of GenAI Synthesis for Restricted Languages (Artifact). In Special Issue of the 40th European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2026). Dagstuhl Artifacts Series (DARTS), Volume 12, Issue 1, pp. 7:1-7:9, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@Article{prasad_et_al:DARTS.12.1.7,
  author =	{Prasad, Siddhartha and Austen, Skyler and Fisler, Kathi and Krishnamurthi, Shriram},
  title =	{{Meaningful Human-in-the-Loop Checking of GenAI Synthesis for Restricted Languages (Artifact)}},
  pages =	{7:1--7:9},
  journal =	{Dagstuhl Artifacts Series},
  ISSN =	{2509-8195},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{12},
  number =	{1},
  editor =	{Prasad, Siddhartha and Austen, Skyler and Fisler, Kathi and Krishnamurthi, Shriram},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/DARTS.12.1.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-261445},
  doi =		{10.4230/DARTS.12.1.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: Regex, LTL, Access Control, Generative AI, Human-in-the-Loop}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SNAPL.2017.13
Teaching Programming Languages by Experimental and Adversarial Thinking

Authors: Justin Pombrio, Shriram Krishnamurthi, and Kathi Fisler

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 71, 2nd Summit on Advances in Programming Languages (SNAPL 2017)

Abstract
We present a new approach to teaching programming language courses. Its essence is to view programming language learning as a natural science activity, where students probe languages experimentally to understand both the normal and extreme behaviors of their features. This has natural parallels to the "security mindset" of computer security, with languages taking the place of servers and other systems. The approach is modular (with minimal dependencies), incremental (it can be introduced slowly into existing classes), interoperable (it does not need to push out other, existing methods), and complementary (since it introduces a new mode of thinking).
Cite as

Justin Pombrio, Shriram Krishnamurthi, and Kathi Fisler. Teaching Programming Languages by Experimental and Adversarial Thinking. In 2nd Summit on Advances in Programming Languages (SNAPL 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 71, pp. 13:1-13:9, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{pombrio_et_al:LIPIcs.SNAPL.2017.13,
  author =	{Pombrio, Justin and Krishnamurthi, Shriram and Fisler, Kathi},
  title =	{{Teaching Programming Languages by Experimental and Adversarial Thinking}},
  booktitle =	{2nd Summit on Advances in Programming Languages (SNAPL 2017)},
  pages =	{13:1--13:9},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-032-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{71},
  editor =	{Lerner, Benjamin S. and Bod{\'\i}k, Rastislav and Krishnamurthi, Shriram},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SNAPL.2017.13},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-71178},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SNAPL.2017.13},
  annote =	{Keywords: mystery languages, interpreters, paradigms, education}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/DagRep.6.2.78
Assessing Learning In Introductory Computer Science (Dagstuhl Seminar 16072)

Authors: Michael E. Caspersen, Kathi Fisler, and Jan Vahrenhold

Published in: Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 6, Issue 2 (2016)

Abstract
This seminar discussed educational outcomes for first-year (university-level) computer science. We explored which outcomes were widely shared across both countries and individual universities, best practices for assessing outcomes, and research projects that would significantly advance assessment of learning in computer science. We considered both technical and professional outcomes (some narrow and some broad) as well as how to create assessments that focused on individual learners. Several concrete research projects took shape during the seminar and are being pursued by some participants.
Cite as

Michael E. Caspersen, Kathi Fisler, and Jan Vahrenhold. Assessing Learning In Introductory Computer Science (Dagstuhl Seminar 16072). In Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 6, Issue 2, pp. 78-96, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2016)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@Article{caspersen_et_al:DagRep.6.2.78,
  author =	{Caspersen, Michael E. and Fisler, Kathi and Vahrenhold, Jan},
  title =	{{Assessing Learning In Introductory Computer Science (Dagstuhl Seminar 16072)}},
  pages =	{78--96},
  journal =	{Dagstuhl Reports},
  ISSN =	{2192-5283},
  year =	{2016},
  volume =	{6},
  number =	{2},
  editor =	{Caspersen, Michael E. and Fisler, Kathi and Vahrenhold, Jan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/DagRep.6.2.78},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-58899},
  doi =		{10.4230/DagRep.6.2.78},
  annote =	{Keywords: Assessment, Learning Objectives}
}
Any Issues?
X

Feedback on the Current Page

CAPTCHA

Thanks for your feedback!

Feedback submitted to Dagstuhl Publishing

Could not send message

Please try again later or send an E-mail
© 2023-2026 Schloss Dagstuhl – LZI GmbH Schloss Dagstuhl – LZI GmbH About DROPS Imprint Privacy Contact