Book Image

Hands-On Genetic Algorithms with Python

By : Eyal Wirsansky
Book Image

Hands-On Genetic Algorithms with Python

By: Eyal Wirsansky

Overview of this book

Genetic algorithms are a family of search, optimization, and learning algorithms inspired by the principles of natural evolution. By imitating the evolutionary process, genetic algorithms can overcome hurdles encountered in traditional search algorithms and provide high-quality solutions for a variety of problems. This book will help you get to grips with a powerful yet simple approach to applying genetic algorithms to a wide range of tasks using Python, covering the latest developments in artificial intelligence. After introducing you to genetic algorithms and their principles of operation, you'll understand how they differ from traditional algorithms and what types of problems they can solve. You'll then discover how they can be applied to search and optimization problems, such as planning, scheduling, gaming, and analytics. As you advance, you'll also learn how to use genetic algorithms to improve your machine learning and deep learning models, solve reinforcement learning tasks, and perform image reconstruction. Finally, you'll cover several related technologies that can open up new possibilities for future applications. By the end of this book, you'll have hands-on experience of applying genetic algorithms in artificial intelligence as well as in numerous other domains.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Section 1: The Basics of Genetic Algorithms
4
Section 2: Solving Problems with Genetic Algorithms
9
Section 3: Artificial Intelligence Applications of Genetic Algorithms
14
Section 4: Related Technologies

Use cases of genetic algorithms

Based on the material we covered in the previous sections, genetic algorithms are best suited for the following types of problems:

  • Problems with complex mathematical representation: Since genetic algorithms only require the outcome of the fitness function, they can be used for problems with target functions that are hard or impossible to differentiate, problems with a large number of parameters, and problems with a mix of parameter types.
  • Problems with no mathematical representation: Genetic algorithms don't require a mathematical representation of the problem as long as a score value can be obtained or a method is available to compare two solutions.
  • Problems involving a noisy environment: Genetic algorithms are resilient to problems where data may not be consistent, such as data originating from sensor output or from human-based scoring.
  • ...