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A Field Guide to Genetic Programming (2008) [pdf]

dces.essex.ac.uk

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Re: A Field Guide to Genetic Programming (2008) [pdf]

#2
I've always been fascinated by genetic programming, and I've always wondered why it isn't more prominent. Is it not actually that useful? Is it too hard to use? Does building magic black boxes scare people?

I'd love to hear from anyone who's used genetic programming for... well, anything really.

Re: A Field Guide to Genetic Programming (2008) [pdf]

#3
post #2

I've always been fascinated by genetic programming, and I've always wondered why it isn't more prominent. Is it not actually that useful? Is it too hard to use? Does building magic black boxes scare people? I'd love to hear from anyone who's used genetic programming for... well, anything really.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712824

Re: A Field Guide to Genetic Programming (2008) [pdf]

#4
post #3
post #2

I've always been fascinated by genetic programming, and I've always wondered why it isn't more prominent. Is it not actually that useful? Is it too hard to use? Does building magic black boxes scare people? I'd love to hear from anyone who's used genetic programming for... well, anything really.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712824

True, but that's talking about genetic algorithms, not genetic programming. I'm oversimplifying, but GA involves evolving parameters in a system to find a solution, where GP involves evolving the code itself.

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-Genetic-A...

Re: A Field Guide to Genetic Programming (2008) [pdf]

#5
post #2

I've always been fascinated by genetic programming, and I've always wondered why it isn't more prominent. Is it not actually that useful? Is it too hard to use? Does building magic black boxes scare people? I'd love to hear from anyone who's used genetic programming for... well, anything really.

Only because you asked, this has been my pet project :)

Using Artificial Intelligence to Write Self-Modifying/Improving Programs

http://www.primaryobjects.com/CMS/Article149

Re: A Field Guide to Genetic Programming (2008) [pdf]

#6
post #2

I've always been fascinated by genetic programming, and I've always wondered why it isn't more prominent. Is it not actually that useful? Is it too hard to use? Does building magic black boxes scare people? I'd love to hear from anyone who's used genetic programming for... well, anything really.

I used it to evolve soccer robot team programs for the RoboCup simulator league in 1997. My entry, which was entirely done through genetic programming and coevolution, beat half of the field.

Re: A Field Guide to Genetic Programming (2008) [pdf]

#7
post #4
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712824

True, but that's talking about genetic algorithms, not genetic programming. I'm oversimplifying, but GA involves evolving parameters in a system to find a solution, where GP involves evolving the code itself. https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-Genetic-A...

[deleted]

Re: A Field Guide to Genetic Programming (2008) [pdf]

#8
post #4
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712824

True, but that's talking about genetic algorithms, not genetic programming. I'm oversimplifying, but GA involves evolving parameters in a system to find a solution, where GP involves evolving the code itself. https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-Genetic-A...

Yes, I didn't quite grasp GP initially, but it simply appears to be using a GA to find an optimal syntax tree (code) that has the desired properties. From the GA perspective, wither the cost/fitness test involves executing code or not seems like just a detail of the GA optimization step.

Re: A Field Guide to Genetic Programming (2008) [pdf]

#9
post #8
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but that's talking about genetic algorithms, not genetic programming. I'm oversimplifying, but GA involves evolving parameters in a system to find a solution, where GP involves evolving the code itself. https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-Genetic-A...

Yes, I didn't quite grasp GP initially, but it simply appears to be using a GA to find an optimal syntax tree (code) that has the desired properties. From the GA perspective, wither the cost/fitness test involves executing code or not seems like just a detail of the GA optimization step.

In terms of how they behave, yeah, they're pretty similar—have a population of individuals, evaluate them for fitness, perform copy / mutation / crossover for highly fit individuals, repeat until fitness is high enough, or you get tired of it.

But, the arbitrary nature of the code being executed in GP (vs a fixed set of parameters in a GA), gives the GP system a lot more flexibility in finding an effective solution. The potential solution space is a lot larger.

Re: A Field Guide to Genetic Programming (2008) [pdf]

#10
post #2

I've always been fascinated by genetic programming, and I've always wondered why it isn't more prominent. Is it not actually that useful? Is it too hard to use? Does building magic black boxes scare people? I'd love to hear from anyone who's used genetic programming for... well, anything really.

I wonder as well; I was really interested in it back when I was in college, but that was like 15 years ago, and it seems that the field has been pretty dead for most of that time. I thought it showed a lot of promise, so I'm pretty disappointed.
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