Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) are often challenging to apply in real-world settings since evolutionary computations involve a large number of evaluations of a typically expensive fitness function. For example, an evaluation could involve training a new machine learning model. An approximation (also known as meta-model or a surrogate) of the true function can be used in such applications to alleviate the computation cost. In this paper, we propose a two-stage surrogate-assisted evolutionary approach to address the computational issues arising from using Genetic Algorithm (GA) for feature selection in a wrapper setting for large datasets. We define 'Approximation Usefulness' to capture the necessary conditions to ensure correctness of the EA computations when an approximation is used. Based on this definition, we propose a procedure to construct a lightweight qualitative meta-model by the active selection of data instances. We then use a meta-model to carry out the feature selection task. We apply this procedure to the GA-based algorithm CHC (Cross generational elitist selection, Heterogeneous recombination and Cataclysmic mutation) to create a Qualitative approXimations variant, CHCQX. We show that CHCQX converges faster to feature subset solutions of significantly higher accuracy (as compared to CHC), particularly for large datasets with over 100K instances. We also demonstrate the applicability of the thinking behind our approach more broadly to Swarm Intelligence (SI), another branch of the Evolutionary Computation (EC) paradigm with results of PSOQX, a qualitative approximation adaptation of the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method. A GitHub repository with the complete implementation is available.

To enhance the interpretability of Reinforcement Learning (RL), we propose Revealing Evolutionary Action Consequence Trajectories (REACT). In contrast to the prevalent practice of validating RL models based on their optimal behavior learned during training, we posit that considering a range of edge-case trajectories provides a more comprehensive understanding of their inherent behavior. To induce such scenarios, we introduce a disturbance to the initial state, optimizing it through an evolutionary algorithm to generate a diverse population of demonstrations. To evaluate the fitness of trajectories, REACT incorporates a joint fitness function that encourages both local and global diversity in the encountered states and chosen actions. Through assessments with policies trained for varying durations in discrete and continuous environments, we demonstrate the descriptive power of REACT. Our results highlight its effectiveness in revealing nuanced aspects of RL models' behavior beyond optimal performance, thereby contributing to improved interpretability.

Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) provides an efficient and tailored method for assessing the proficiency of examinees, by dynamically adjusting test questions based on their performance. Widely adopted across diverse fields like education, healthcare, sports, and sociology, CAT has revolutionized testing practices. While traditional methods rely on psychometrics and statistics, the increasing complexity of large-scale testing has spurred the integration of machine learning techniques. This paper aims to provide a machine learning-focused survey on CAT, presenting a fresh perspective on this adaptive testing method. By examining the test question selection algorithm at the heart of CAT's adaptivity, we shed light on its functionality. Furthermore, we delve into cognitive diagnosis models, question bank construction, and test control within CAT, exploring how machine learning can optimize these components. Through an analysis of current methods, strengths, limitations, and challenges, we strive to develop robust, fair, and efficient CAT systems. By bridging psychometric-driven CAT research with machine learning, this survey advocates for a more inclusive and interdisciplinary approach to the future of adaptive testing.

Motion planning is an essential part of autonomous mobile platforms. A good pipeline should be modular enough to handle different vehicles, environments, and perception modules. The planning process has to cope with all the different modalities and has to have a modular and flexible design. But most importantly, it has to be safe and robust. In this paper, we want to present our motion planning pipeline with particle swarm optimization (PSO) at its core. This solution is independent of the vehicle type and has a clear and simple-to-implement interface for perception modules. Moreover, the approach stands out for being easily adaptable to new scenarios. Parallel calculation allows for fast planning cycles. Following the principles of PSO, the trajectory planer first generates a swarm of initial trajectories that are optimized afterward. We present the underlying control space and inner workings. Finally, the application to real-world automated driving is shown in the evaluation with a deeper look at the modeling of the cost function. The approach is used in our automated shuttles that have already driven more than 3.500 km safely and entirely autonomously in sub-urban everyday traffic.

Quantum Kernels are projected to provide early-stage usefulness for quantum machine learning. However, highly sophisticated classical models are hard to surpass without losing interpretability, particularly when vast datasets can be exploited. Nonetheless, classical models struggle once data is scarce and skewed. Quantum feature spaces are projected to find better links between data features and the target class to be predicted even in such challenging scenarios and most importantly, enhanced generalization capabilities. In this work, we propose a novel approach called Systemic Quantum Score (SQS) and provide preliminary results indicating potential advantage over purely classical models in a production grade use case for the Finance sector. SQS shows in our specific study an increased capacity to extract patterns out of fewer data points as well as improved performance over data-hungry algorithms such as XGBoost, providing advantage in a competitive market as it is the FinTech and Neobank regime.

The management of modern IT systems poses unique challenges, necessitating scalability, reliability, and efficiency in handling extensive data streams. Traditional methods, reliant on manual tasks and rule-based approaches, prove inefficient for the substantial data volumes and alerts generated by IT systems. Artificial Intelligence for Operating Systems (AIOps) has emerged as a solution, leveraging advanced analytics like machine learning and big data to enhance incident management. AIOps detects and predicts incidents, identifies root causes, and automates healing actions, improving quality and reducing operational costs. However, despite its potential, the AIOps domain is still in its early stages, decentralized across multiple sectors, and lacking standardized conventions. Research and industrial contributions are distributed without consistent frameworks for data management, target problems, implementation details, requirements, and capabilities. This study proposes an AIOps terminology and taxonomy, establishing a structured incident management procedure and providing guidelines for constructing an AIOps framework. The research also categorizes contributions based on criteria such as incident management tasks, application areas, data sources, and technical approaches. The goal is to provide a comprehensive review of technical and research aspects in AIOps for incident management, aiming to structure knowledge, identify gaps, and establish a foundation for future developments in the field.

Generative models are subject to overfitting and thus may potentially leak sensitive information from the training data. In this work. we investigate the privacy risks that can potentially arise from the use of generative adversarial networks (GANs) for creating tabular synthetic datasets. For the purpose, we analyse the effects of re-identification attacks on synthetic data, i.e., attacks which aim at selecting samples that are predicted to correspond to memorised training samples based on their proximity to the nearest synthetic records. We thus consider multiple settings where different attackers might have different access levels or knowledge of the generative model and predictive, and assess which information is potentially most useful for launching more successful re-identification attacks. In doing so we also consider the situation for which re-identification attacks are formulated as reconstruction attacks, i.e., the situation where an attacker uses evolutionary multi-objective optimisation for perturbing synthetic samples closer to the training space. The results indicate that attackers can indeed pose major privacy risks by selecting synthetic samples that are likely representative of memorised training samples. In addition, we notice that privacy threats considerably increase when the attacker either has knowledge or has black-box access to the generative models. We also find that reconstruction attacks through multi-objective optimisation even increase the risk of identifying confidential samples.

Price prediction algorithms propose prices for every product or service according to market trends, projected demand, and other characteristics, including government rules, international transactions, and speculation and expectation. As the dependent variable in price prediction, it is affected by several independent and correlated variables which may challenge the price prediction. To overcome this challenge, machine learning algorithms allow more accurate price prediction without explicitly modeling the relatedness between variables. However, as inputs increase, it challenges the existing machine learning approaches regarding computing efficiency and prediction effectiveness. Hence, this study introduces a novel decision level fusion approach to select informative variables in price prediction. The suggested metaheuristic algorithm balances two competitive objective functions, which are defined to improve the prediction utilized variables and reduce the error rate simultaneously. To generate Pareto optimal solutions, an Elastic net approach is employed to eliminate unrelated and redundant variables to increase the accuracy. Afterward, we propose a novel method for combining solutions and ensuring that a subset of features is optimal. Two various real datasets evaluate the proposed price prediction method. The results support the suggested superiority of the model concerning its relative root mean square error and adjusted correlation coefficient.

Inverse kinematics is an important and challenging problem in the operation of industrial manipulators. This study proposes a simple inverse kinematics calculation scheme for an industrial serial manipulator. The proposed technique can calculate appropriate values of the joint variables to realize the desired end-effector position and orientation while considering the motion costs of each joint. Two scalar functions are defined for the joint variables: one is to evaluate the end-effector position and orientation, whereas the other is to evaluate the motion efficiency of the joints. By combining the two scalar functions, the inverse kinematics calculation of the manipulator is formulated as a numerical optimization problem. Furthermore, a simple algorithm for solving the inverse kinematics via the aforementioned optimization is constructed on the basis of the simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation with a norm-limited update vector (NLSPSA). The proposed scheme considers not only the accuracy of the position and orientation of the end-effector but also the efficiency of the robot movement. Therefore, it yields a practical result of the inverse problem. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is simple and easy to implement owing to the high calculation efficiency of NLSPSA. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through numerical examples using a redundant manipulator.

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have shown great success in generating high quality images and are thus used as one of the main approaches to generate art images. However, usually the image generation process involves sampling from the latent space of the learned art representations, allowing little control over the output. In this work, we first employ GANs that are trained to produce creative images using an architecture known as Creative Adversarial Networks (CANs), then, we employ an evolutionary approach to navigate within the latent space of the models to discover images. We use automatic aesthetic and collaborative interactive human evaluation metrics to assess the generated images. In the human interactive evaluation case, we propose a collaborative evaluation based on the assessments of several participants. Furthermore, we also experiment with an intelligent mutation operator that aims to improve the quality of the images through local search based on an aesthetic measure. We evaluate the effectiveness of this approach by comparing the results produced by the automatic and collaborative interactive evolution. The results show that the proposed approach can generate highly attractive art images when the evolution is guided by collaborative human feedback.