Nicolás E Garcí-Pedrajas, José M Cuevas-Muñoz, Aida de Haro-García
One of the most common problems in data mining applications is the uneven distribution of classes, which appears in many real-world scenarios. The class of interest is often highly underrepresented in the given dataset, which harms the performance of most classifiers. One of the most successful methods for addressing the class imbalance problem is to oversample the minority class using synthetic samples. Since the original algorithm, the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE), introduced this method, numerous versions have emerged, each of which is based on a specific hypothesis about where and how to generate new synthetic instances. In this paper, we propose a different approach based exclusively on evolutionary computation that imposes no constraints on the creation of new synthetic instances. Majority class undersampling is also incorporated into the evolutionary process. A thorough comparison involving three classification methods, 85 datasets, and more than 90 class-imbalance strategies shows the advantages of our proposal.
{"title":"BlindSMOTE: Synthetic minority oversampling based only on evolutionary computation.","authors":"Nicolás E Garcí-Pedrajas, José M Cuevas-Muñoz, Aida de Haro-García","doi":"10.1162/evco_a_00374","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/evco_a_00374","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>One of the most common problems in data mining applications is the uneven distribution of classes, which appears in many real-world scenarios. The class of interest is often highly underrepresented in the given dataset, which harms the performance of most classifiers. One of the most successful methods for addressing the class imbalance problem is to oversample the minority class using synthetic samples. Since the original algorithm, the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE), introduced this method, numerous versions have emerged, each of which is based on a specific hypothesis about where and how to generate new synthetic instances. In this paper, we propose a different approach based exclusively on evolutionary computation that imposes no constraints on the creation of new synthetic instances. Majority class undersampling is also incorporated into the evolutionary process. A thorough comparison involving three classification methods, 85 datasets, and more than 90 class-imbalance strategies shows the advantages of our proposal.</p>","PeriodicalId":50470,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Computation","volume":" ","pages":"1-35"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144023903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Describing the properties of complex systems that evolve over time is a crucial requirement for monitoring and understanding them. Signal Temporal Logic (STL) is a framework that proved to be effective for this aim because it is expressive and allows state properties as human-readable formulae. Crafting STL formulae that fit a particular system is, however, a difficult task. For this reason, a few approaches have been proposed recently for the automatic learning of STL formulae starting from observations of the system. In this paper, we propose BUSTLE (Bi-level Universal STL Evolver), an approach based on evolutionary computation for learning STL formulae from data. BUSTLE advances the state of the art because it (i) applies to a broader class of problems, in terms of what is known about the state of the system during its observation, and (ii) generates both the structure and the values of the parameters of the formulae employing a bi-level search mechanism (global for the structure, local for the parameters). We consider two cases where (a) observations of the system in both anomalous and regular state are available, or (b) only observations of regular state are available. We experimentally evaluate BUSTLE on problem instances corresponding to the two cases and compare it against previous approaches. We show that the evolved STL formulae are effective and human-readable: the versatility of BUSTLE does not come at the cost of lower effectiveness.
{"title":"BUSTLE: A Versatile Tool for the Evolutionary Learning of STL Specifications from Data","authors":"Federico Pigozzi;Laura Nenzi;Eric Medvet","doi":"10.1162/evco_a_00347","DOIUrl":"10.1162/evco_a_00347","url":null,"abstract":"Describing the properties of complex systems that evolve over time is a crucial requirement for monitoring and understanding them. Signal Temporal Logic (STL) is a framework that proved to be effective for this aim because it is expressive and allows state properties as human-readable formulae. Crafting STL formulae that fit a particular system is, however, a difficult task. For this reason, a few approaches have been proposed recently for the automatic learning of STL formulae starting from observations of the system. In this paper, we propose BUSTLE (Bi-level Universal STL Evolver), an approach based on evolutionary computation for learning STL formulae from data. BUSTLE advances the state of the art because it (i) applies to a broader class of problems, in terms of what is known about the state of the system during its observation, and (ii) generates both the structure and the values of the parameters of the formulae employing a bi-level search mechanism (global for the structure, local for the parameters). We consider two cases where (a) observations of the system in both anomalous and regular state are available, or (b) only observations of regular state are available. We experimentally evaluate BUSTLE on problem instances corresponding to the two cases and compare it against previous approaches. We show that the evolved STL formulae are effective and human-readable: the versatility of BUSTLE does not come at the cost of lower effectiveness.","PeriodicalId":50470,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Computation","volume":"33 1","pages":"91-114"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139913984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marc Kaufmann;Maxime Larcher;Johannes Lengler;Xun Zou
We study the (1:s+1) success rule for controlling the population size of the (1,λ)-EA. It was shown by Hevia Fajardo and Sudholt that this parameter control mechanism can run into problems for large s if the fitness landscape is too easy. They conjectured that this problem is worst for the OneMax benchmark, since in some well-established sense OneMax is known to be the easiest fitness landscape. In this paper, we disprove this conjecture. We show that there exist s and ɛ such that the self-adjusting (1,λ)-EA with the (1:s+1)-rule optimizes OneMax efficiently when started with ɛn zero-bits, but does not find the optimum in polynomial time on Dynamic BinVal. Hence, we show that there are landscapes where the problem of the (1:s+1)-rule for controlling the population size of the (1,λ)-EA is more severe than for OneMax. The key insight is that, while OneMax is the easiest function for decreasing the distance to the optimum, it is not the easiest fitness landscape with respect to finding fitness-improving steps.
{"title":"OneMax Is Not the Easiest Function for Fitness Improvements","authors":"Marc Kaufmann;Maxime Larcher;Johannes Lengler;Xun Zou","doi":"10.1162/evco_a_00348","DOIUrl":"10.1162/evco_a_00348","url":null,"abstract":"We study the (1:s+1) success rule for controlling the population size of the (1,λ)-EA. It was shown by Hevia Fajardo and Sudholt that this parameter control mechanism can run into problems for large s if the fitness landscape is too easy. They conjectured that this problem is worst for the OneMax benchmark, since in some well-established sense OneMax is known to be the easiest fitness landscape. In this paper, we disprove this conjecture. We show that there exist s and ɛ such that the self-adjusting (1,λ)-EA with the (1:s+1)-rule optimizes OneMax efficiently when started with ɛn zero-bits, but does not find the optimum in polynomial time on Dynamic BinVal. Hence, we show that there are landscapes where the problem of the (1:s+1)-rule for controlling the population size of the (1,λ)-EA is more severe than for OneMax. The key insight is that, while OneMax is the easiest function for decreasing the distance to the optimum, it is not the easiest fitness landscape with respect to finding fitness-improving steps.","PeriodicalId":50470,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Computation","volume":"33 1","pages":"27-54"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140295208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gathering sufficient instance data to either train algorithm-selection models or understand algorithm footprints within an instance space can be challenging. We propose an approach to generating synthetic instances that are tailored to perform well with respect to a target algorithm belonging to a predefined portfolio but are also diverse with respect to their features. Our approach uses a novelty search algorithm with a linearly weighted fitness function that balances novelty and performance to generate a large set of diverse and discriminatory instances in a single run of the algorithm. We consider two definitions of novelty: (1) with respect to discriminatory performance within a portfolio of solvers; (2) with respect to the features of the evolved instances. We evaluate the proposed method with respect to its ability to generate diverse and discriminatory instances in two domains (knapsack and bin-packing), comparing to another well-known quality diversity method, Multi-dimensional Archive of Phenotypic Elites (MAP-Elites) and an evolutionary algorithm that only evolves for discriminatory behaviour. The results demonstrate that the novelty search method outperforms its competitors in terms of coverage of the space and its ability to generate instances that are diverse regarding the relative size of the “performance gap” between the target solver and the remaining solvers in the portfolio. Moreover, for the Knapsack domain, we also show that we are able to generate novel instances in regions of an instance space not covered by existing benchmarks using a portfolio of state-of-the-art solvers. Finally, we demonstrate that the method is robust to different portfolios of solvers (stochastic approaches, deterministic heuristics, and state-of-the-art methods), thereby providing further evidence of its generality.
{"title":"Synthesising Diverse and Discriminatory Sets of Instances Using Novelty Search in Combinatorial Domains","authors":"Alejandro Marrero;Eduardo Segredo;Coromoto León;Emma Hart","doi":"10.1162/evco_a_00350","DOIUrl":"10.1162/evco_a_00350","url":null,"abstract":"Gathering sufficient instance data to either train algorithm-selection models or understand algorithm footprints within an instance space can be challenging. We propose an approach to generating synthetic instances that are tailored to perform well with respect to a target algorithm belonging to a predefined portfolio but are also diverse with respect to their features. Our approach uses a novelty search algorithm with a linearly weighted fitness function that balances novelty and performance to generate a large set of diverse and discriminatory instances in a single run of the algorithm. We consider two definitions of novelty: (1) with respect to discriminatory performance within a portfolio of solvers; (2) with respect to the features of the evolved instances. We evaluate the proposed method with respect to its ability to generate diverse and discriminatory instances in two domains (knapsack and bin-packing), comparing to another well-known quality diversity method, Multi-dimensional Archive of Phenotypic Elites (MAP-Elites) and an evolutionary algorithm that only evolves for discriminatory behaviour. The results demonstrate that the novelty search method outperforms its competitors in terms of coverage of the space and its ability to generate instances that are diverse regarding the relative size of the “performance gap” between the target solver and the remaining solvers in the portfolio. Moreover, for the Knapsack domain, we also show that we are able to generate novel instances in regions of an instance space not covered by existing benchmarks using a portfolio of state-of-the-art solvers. Finally, we demonstrate that the method is robust to different portfolios of solvers (stochastic approaches, deterministic heuristics, and state-of-the-art methods), thereby providing further evidence of its generality.","PeriodicalId":50470,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Computation","volume":"33 1","pages":"55-90"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140877841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The fitness level method is a popular tool for analyzing the hitting time of elitist evolutionary algorithms. Its idea is to divide the search space into multiple fitness levels and estimate lower and upper bounds on the hitting time using transition probabilities between fitness levels. However, the lower bound generated by this method is often loose. An open question regarding the fitness level method is what are the tightest lower and upper time bounds that can be constructed based on transition probabilities between fitness levels. To answer this question, we combine drift analysis with fitness levels and define the tightest bound problem as a constrained multiobjective optimization problem subject to fitness levels. The tightest metric bounds by fitness levels are constructed and proven for the first time. Then linear bounds are derived from metric bounds and a framework is established that can be used to develop different fitness level methods for different types of linear bounds. The framework is generic and promising, as it can be used to draw tight time bounds on both fitness landscapes with and without shortcuts. This is demonstrated in the example of the (1+1) EA maximizing the TwoMax1 function.
适应度方法是分析精英进化算法命中时间的常用工具。其原理是将搜索空间划分为多个适合度等级,并利用适合度等级之间的过渡概率估算出命中时间的下限和上限。然而,这种方法产生的下限往往比较宽松。关于适合度方法的一个悬而未决的问题是,根据适合度之间的过渡概率,可以构建出最严格的时间下限和上限。为了回答这个问题,我们将漂移分析与适应度水平相结合,并将最严格约束问题定义为受限于适应度水平的多目标优化问题。我们首次构建并证明了适应度水平的最严格度量边界。然后,从度量约束推导出线性约束,并建立了一个框架,可用于为不同类型的线性约束开发不同的适度水平方法。该框架具有通用性和广阔前景,因为它既可以用于绘制有捷径的适度景观,也可以用于绘制无捷径的适度景观。(1+1) EA 最大化 TwoMax1 函数的例子就证明了这一点。
{"title":"Drift Analysis with Fitness Levels for Elitist Evolutionary Algorithms","authors":"Jun He;Yuren Zhou","doi":"10.1162/evco_a_00349","DOIUrl":"10.1162/evco_a_00349","url":null,"abstract":"The fitness level method is a popular tool for analyzing the hitting time of elitist evolutionary algorithms. Its idea is to divide the search space into multiple fitness levels and estimate lower and upper bounds on the hitting time using transition probabilities between fitness levels. However, the lower bound generated by this method is often loose. An open question regarding the fitness level method is what are the tightest lower and upper time bounds that can be constructed based on transition probabilities between fitness levels. To answer this question, we combine drift analysis with fitness levels and define the tightest bound problem as a constrained multiobjective optimization problem subject to fitness levels. The tightest metric bounds by fitness levels are constructed and proven for the first time. Then linear bounds are derived from metric bounds and a framework is established that can be used to develop different fitness level methods for different types of linear bounds. The framework is generic and promising, as it can be used to draw tight time bounds on both fitness landscapes with and without shortcuts. This is demonstrated in the example of the (1+1) EA maximizing the TwoMax1 function.","PeriodicalId":50470,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Computation","volume":"33 1","pages":"1-25"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140295207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Isidro M. Alvarez;Trung B. Nguyen;Will N. Browne;Mengjie Zhang
Evolutionary Computation (EC) often throws away learned knowledge as it is reset for each new problem addressed. Conversely, humans can learn from small-scale problems, retain this knowledge (plus functionality), and then successfully reuse them in larger-scale and/or related problems. Linking solutions to problems has been achieved through layered learning, where an experimenter sets a series of simpler related problems to solve a more complex task. Recent works on Learning Classifier Systems (LCSs) has shown that knowledge reuse through the adoption of Code Fragments, GP-like tree-based programs, is plausible. However, random reuse is inefficient. Thus, the research question is how LCS can adopt a layered-learning framework, such that increasingly complex problems can be solved efficiently. An LCS (named XCSCF*) has been developed to include the required base axioms necessary for learning, refined methods for transfer learning and learning recast as a decomposition into a series of subordinate problems. These subordinate problems can be set as a curriculum by a teacher, but this does not mean that an agent can learn from it; especially if it only extracts over-fitted knowledge of each problem rather than the underlying scalable patterns and functions. Results show that from a conventional tabula rasa, with only a vague notion of which subordinate problems might be relevant, XCSCF* captures the general logic behind the tested domains and therefore can solve any n-bit Multiplexer, n-bit Carry-one, n-bit Majority-on, and n-bit Even-parity problems. This work demonstrates a step towards continual learning as learned knowledge is effectively reused in subsequent problems.
进化计算(EC)通常会丢弃已学知识,因为每解决一个新问题,都要重新设置这些知识。相反,人类可以从小规模的问题中学习,保留这些知识(以及功能),然后成功地在更大规模和/或相关的问题中重复使用。通过分层学习,实验者可以设置一系列较简单的相关问题来解决较复杂的任务,从而将问题的解决方案联系在一起。最近关于学习分类器系统(LCS)的研究表明,通过采用代码片段(类似于 GP 的树状程序)进行知识重用是可行的。然而,随机重用的效率很低。因此,研究的问题是学习分类系统如何采用分层学习框架,从而高效地解决日益复杂的问题?我们开发了一种 LCS(名为 XCSCF*),其中包括学习所需的基本公理、迁移学习的精炼方法以及分解为一系列下级问题的学习重构。这些下属问题可以由教师设置为课程,但这并不意味着代理可以从中学习。特别是如果它只是提取每个问题的过度拟合知识,而不是潜在的可扩展模式和函数。结果表明,XCSCF*能从传统的表格中捕捉到测试领域背后的一般逻辑,因此能解决任何n位多路复用器、n位携带一、n位多数开和n位偶奇偶问题。这项工作展示了向持续学习迈出的一步,因为学到的知识可以在后续问题中有效地重复使用。
{"title":"A Layered Learning Approach to Scaling in Learning Classifier Systems for Boolean Problems","authors":"Isidro M. Alvarez;Trung B. Nguyen;Will N. Browne;Mengjie Zhang","doi":"10.1162/evco_a_00351","DOIUrl":"10.1162/evco_a_00351","url":null,"abstract":"Evolutionary Computation (EC) often throws away learned knowledge as it is reset for each new problem addressed. Conversely, humans can learn from small-scale problems, retain this knowledge (plus functionality), and then successfully reuse them in larger-scale and/or related problems. Linking solutions to problems has been achieved through layered learning, where an experimenter sets a series of simpler related problems to solve a more complex task. Recent works on Learning Classifier Systems (LCSs) has shown that knowledge reuse through the adoption of Code Fragments, GP-like tree-based programs, is plausible. However, random reuse is inefficient. Thus, the research question is how LCS can adopt a layered-learning framework, such that increasingly complex problems can be solved efficiently. An LCS (named XCSCF*) has been developed to include the required base axioms necessary for learning, refined methods for transfer learning and learning recast as a decomposition into a series of subordinate problems. These subordinate problems can be set as a curriculum by a teacher, but this does not mean that an agent can learn from it; especially if it only extracts over-fitted knowledge of each problem rather than the underlying scalable patterns and functions. Results show that from a conventional tabula rasa, with only a vague notion of which subordinate problems might be relevant, XCSCF* captures the general logic behind the tested domains and therefore can solve any n-bit Multiplexer, n-bit Carry-one, n-bit Majority-on, and n-bit Even-parity problems. This work demonstrates a step towards continual learning as learned knowledge is effectively reused in subsequent problems.","PeriodicalId":50470,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Computation","volume":"33 1","pages":"115-140"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140877840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Most many-objective optimization algorithms (MaOEAs) adopt a pre-assumed Pareto front (PF) shape, instead of the true PF shape, to balance convergence and diversity in high-dimensional objective space, resulting in insufficient selection pressure and poor performance. To address these shortcomings, we propose MaOEA-PV based on PF shape classification and vector angle selection. The three innovation points of this paper are as follows: (I) a new method for PF classification; (II) a new fitness function that combines convergence and diversity indicators, thereby enhancing the quality of parents during mating selection; and (III) the selection of individuals exhibiting the best convergence to add to the population, overcoming the lack of selection pressure during environmental selection. Subsequently, the max-min vector angle strategy is employed. The solutions with the highest diversity and the least convergence are selected based on the max and min vector angles, respectively, which balances convergence and diversity. The performance of algorithm is compared with those of five state-of-the-art MaOEAs on 41 test problems and 5 real-world problems comprising as many 15 objectives. The experimental results demonstrate the competitive and effective nature of the proposed algorithm.
{"title":"Solving Many-objective Optimization Problems based on PF Shape Classification and Vector Angle Selection.","authors":"Y T Wu, F Z Ge, D B Chen, L Shi","doi":"10.1162/evco_a_00373","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/evco_a_00373","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Most many-objective optimization algorithms (MaOEAs) adopt a pre-assumed Pareto front (PF) shape, instead of the true PF shape, to balance convergence and diversity in high-dimensional objective space, resulting in insufficient selection pressure and poor performance. To address these shortcomings, we propose MaOEA-PV based on PF shape classification and vector angle selection. The three innovation points of this paper are as follows: (I) a new method for PF classification; (II) a new fitness function that combines convergence and diversity indicators, thereby enhancing the quality of parents during mating selection; and (III) the selection of individuals exhibiting the best convergence to add to the population, overcoming the lack of selection pressure during environmental selection. Subsequently, the max-min vector angle strategy is employed. The solutions with the highest diversity and the least convergence are selected based on the max and min vector angles, respectively, which balances convergence and diversity. The performance of algorithm is compared with those of five state-of-the-art MaOEAs on 41 test problems and 5 real-world problems comprising as many 15 objectives. The experimental results demonstrate the competitive and effective nature of the proposed algorithm.</p>","PeriodicalId":50470,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Computation","volume":" ","pages":"1-42"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143651776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jeroen G Rook, Carolin Benjamins, Jakob Bossek, Heike Trautmann, Holger H Hoos, Marius Lindauer
Automated algorithm configuration aims at finding well-performing parameter configurations for a given problem, and it has proven to be effective within many AI domains, including evolutionary computation. Initially, the focus was on excelling in one performance objective, but, in reality, most tasks have a variety of (conflicting) objectives. The surging demand for trustworthy and resource-efficient AI systems makes this multi-objective perspective even more prevalent. We propose a new general-purpose multi-objective automated algorithm configurator by extending the widely-used SMAC framework. Instead of finding a single configuration, we search for a non-dominated set that approximates the actual Pareto set. We propose a pure multi-objective Bayesian Optimisation approach for obtaining promising configurations by using the predicted hypervolume improvement as acquisition function. We also present a novel intensification procedure to efficiently handle the selection of configurations in a multi-objective context. Our approach is empirically validated and compared across various configuration scenarios in four AI domains, demonstrating superiority over baseline methods, competitiveness with MO-ParamILS on individual scenarios and an overall best performance.
{"title":"MO-SMAC: Multi-objective Sequential Model-based Algorithm Configuration.","authors":"Jeroen G Rook, Carolin Benjamins, Jakob Bossek, Heike Trautmann, Holger H Hoos, Marius Lindauer","doi":"10.1162/evco_a_00371","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/evco_a_00371","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Automated algorithm configuration aims at finding well-performing parameter configurations for a given problem, and it has proven to be effective within many AI domains, including evolutionary computation. Initially, the focus was on excelling in one performance objective, but, in reality, most tasks have a variety of (conflicting) objectives. The surging demand for trustworthy and resource-efficient AI systems makes this multi-objective perspective even more prevalent. We propose a new general-purpose multi-objective automated algorithm configurator by extending the widely-used SMAC framework. Instead of finding a single configuration, we search for a non-dominated set that approximates the actual Pareto set. We propose a pure multi-objective Bayesian Optimisation approach for obtaining promising configurations by using the predicted hypervolume improvement as acquisition function. We also present a novel intensification procedure to efficiently handle the selection of configurations in a multi-objective context. Our approach is empirically validated and compared across various configuration scenarios in four AI domains, demonstrating superiority over baseline methods, competitiveness with MO-ParamILS on individual scenarios and an overall best performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":50470,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Computation","volume":" ","pages":"1-25"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143651775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gjorgjina Cenikj, Gašper Petelin, Carola Doerr, Peter Korošec, Tome Eftimov
The representation of optimization problems and algorithms in terms of numerical features is a well-established tool for comparing optimization problem instances, for analyzing the behavior of optimization algorithms, and the quality of existing problem benchmarks, as well as for automated per-instance algorithm selection and configuration approaches. Extending purely problem-centered feature collections, our recently proposed DynamoRep features provide a simple and inexpensive representation of the algorithmproblem interaction during the optimization process. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of the predictive power of the DynamoRep features for the problem classification, algorithm selection, and algorithm classification tasks. In particular, the features are evaluated for the classification of problem instances into problem classes from the BBOB (Black Box Optimization Benchmarking) suite, selecting the best algorithm to solve a given problem from a portfolio of three algorithms (Differential Evolution, Evolutionary Strategy, and Particle Swarm Optimization), as well as distinguishing these algorithms based on their trajectories. We show that, despite being much cheaper to compute, they can yield results comparable to those using state-ofthe-art Exploratory Landscape Analysis features.
{"title":"Beyond Landscape Analysis: DynamoRep Features For Capturing Algorithm-Problem Interaction In Single-Objective Continuous Optimization.","authors":"Gjorgjina Cenikj, Gašper Petelin, Carola Doerr, Peter Korošec, Tome Eftimov","doi":"10.1162/evco_a_00370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/evco_a_00370","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The representation of optimization problems and algorithms in terms of numerical features is a well-established tool for comparing optimization problem instances, for analyzing the behavior of optimization algorithms, and the quality of existing problem benchmarks, as well as for automated per-instance algorithm selection and configuration approaches. Extending purely problem-centered feature collections, our recently proposed DynamoRep features provide a simple and inexpensive representation of the algorithmproblem interaction during the optimization process. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of the predictive power of the DynamoRep features for the problem classification, algorithm selection, and algorithm classification tasks. In particular, the features are evaluated for the classification of problem instances into problem classes from the BBOB (Black Box Optimization Benchmarking) suite, selecting the best algorithm to solve a given problem from a portfolio of three algorithms (Differential Evolution, Evolutionary Strategy, and Particle Swarm Optimization), as well as distinguishing these algorithms based on their trajectories. We show that, despite being much cheaper to compute, they can yield results comparable to those using state-ofthe-art Exploratory Landscape Analysis features.</p>","PeriodicalId":50470,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Computation","volume":" ","pages":"1-28"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143575999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Interactive methods support decision-makers in finding the most preferred solution for multiobjective optimization problems, where multiple conflicting objective functions must be optimized simultaneously. These methods let a decision-maker provide preference information iteratively during the solution process to find solutions of interest, allowing them to learn about the trade-offs in the problem and the feasibility of the preferences. Several interactive evolutionary multiobjective optimization methods have been proposed in the literature. In the evolutionary computation community, the so-called decomposition-basedmethods have been increasingly popular because of their good performance in problems with many objective functions. They decompose the multiobjective optimization problem into multiple sub-problems to be solved collaboratively. Various interactive versions of decomposition-based methods have been proposed. However, most of them do not consider the desirable properties of real interactive solution processes, such as avoiding imposing a high cognitive burden on the decision-maker, allowing them to decide when to interact with the method, and supporting them in selecting a final solution. This paper reviews interactive evolutionary decomposition-based multiobjective optimization methods and different methodologies utilized to incorporate interactivity in them. Additionally, desirable properties of interactive decomposition-based multiobjective evolutionary optimization methods are identified, aiming to make them easier to be applied in real-world problems.
{"title":"Survey of interactive evolutionary decomposition-based multiobjective optimization methods.","authors":"Giomara Lárraga, Kaisa Miettinen","doi":"10.1162/evco_a_00366","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/evco_a_00366","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Interactive methods support decision-makers in finding the most preferred solution for multiobjective optimization problems, where multiple conflicting objective functions must be optimized simultaneously. These methods let a decision-maker provide preference information iteratively during the solution process to find solutions of interest, allowing them to learn about the trade-offs in the problem and the feasibility of the preferences. Several interactive evolutionary multiobjective optimization methods have been proposed in the literature. In the evolutionary computation community, the so-called decomposition-basedmethods have been increasingly popular because of their good performance in problems with many objective functions. They decompose the multiobjective optimization problem into multiple sub-problems to be solved collaboratively. Various interactive versions of decomposition-based methods have been proposed. However, most of them do not consider the desirable properties of real interactive solution processes, such as avoiding imposing a high cognitive burden on the decision-maker, allowing them to decide when to interact with the method, and supporting them in selecting a final solution. This paper reviews interactive evolutionary decomposition-based multiobjective optimization methods and different methodologies utilized to incorporate interactivity in them. Additionally, desirable properties of interactive decomposition-based multiobjective evolutionary optimization methods are identified, aiming to make them easier to be applied in real-world problems.</p>","PeriodicalId":50470,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Computation","volume":" ","pages":"1-39"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143015551","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}