The ubiquitous availability of computing devices and the widespread use of the internet have generated a large amount of data continuously. Therefore, the amount of available information on any given topic is far beyond humans' processing capacity to properly process, causing what is known as information overload. To efficiently cope with large amounts of information and generate content with significant value to users, we require identifying, merging and summarising information. Data summaries can help gather related information and collect it into a shorter format that enables answering complicated questions, gaining new insight and discovering conceptual boundaries. This thesis focuses on three main challenges to alleviate information overload using novel summarisation techniques. It further intends to facilitate the analysis of documents to support personalised information extraction. This thesis separates the research issues into four areas, covering (i) feature engineering in document summarisation, (ii) traditional static and inflexible summaries, (iii) traditional generic summarisation approaches, and (iv) the need for reference summaries. We propose novel approaches to tackle these challenges, by: i)enabling automatic intelligent feature engineering, ii) enabling flexible and interactive summarisation, iii) utilising intelligent and personalised summarisation approaches. The experimental results prove the efficiency of the proposed approaches compared to other state-of-the-art models. We further propose solutions to the information overload problem in different domains through summarisation, covering network traffic data, health data and business process data.

DEAP is a novel evolutionary computation framework for rapid prototyping and testing of ideas. It seeks to make algorithms explicit and data structures transparent. It works in perfect harmony with parallelisation mechanisms such as multiprocessing and SCOOP. Following acceptance of PEP 438 by the Python community, we have moved DEAP's source releases on PyPI. You can find the most recent releases at: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/deap/.

Optimizing the reliability and the robustness of a design is important but often unaffordable due to high sample requirements. Surrogate models based on statistical and machine learning methods are used to increase the sample efficiency. However, for higher dimensional or multi-modal systems, surrogate models may also require a large amount of samples to achieve good results. We propose a sequential sampling strategy for the surrogate based solution of multi-objective reliability based robust design optimization problems. Proposed local Latin hypercube refinement (LoLHR) strategy is model-agnostic and can be combined with any surrogate model because there is no free lunch but possibly a budget one. The proposed method is compared to stationary sampling as well as other proposed strategies from the literature. Gaussian process and support vector regression are both used as surrogate models. Empirical evidence is presented, showing that LoLHR achieves on average better results compared to other surrogate based strategies on the tested examples.

We study a variation of the Stable Marriage problem, where every man and every woman express their preferences as preference lists which may be incomplete and contain ties. This problem is called the Stable Marriage problem with Ties and Incomplete preferences (SMTI). We consider three optimization variants of SMTI, Max Cardinality, Sex-Equal and Egalitarian, and empirically compare the following methods to solve them: Answer Set Programming, Constraint Programming, Integer Linear Programming. For Max Cardinality, we compare these methods with Local Search methods as well. We also empirically compare Answer Set Programming with Propositional Satisfiability, for SMTI instances. This paper is under consideration for acceptance in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP).

This is a simulation that uses AI (to be specific: genetic algorithms) to try to build better and better vehicles. The vehicles have to overcome an obstacle course, starting with some slight hills, followed by steeper hills, and finally some jumps. The vehicles are made out of panels and wheels, connected together, similar to the game Besiege, except in 2D. Try the live web demo here. I made an in-depth video explaining how it works here.

The frequency-based method is the most commonly used method for measuring cable tension. However, the calculation formulas for the conventional frequency-based method are generally based on the ideally hinged or fixed boundary conditions without a comprehensive consideration of the inclination angle, sag-extensibility, and flexural stiffness of cables, leading to a significant error in cable tension identification. This study aimed to propose a frequency-based method of cable tension identification considering the complex boundary conditions at the two ends of cables using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. First, the refined stay cable model was established considering the inclination angle, flexural stiffness, and sag-extensibility, as well as the rotational constraint stiffness and lateral support stiffness for the unknown boundaries of cables. The vibration mode equation of the stay cable model was discretized and solved using the finite difference method. Then, a multiparameter identification method based on the PSO algorithm was proposed. This method was able to identify the tension, flexural stiffness, axial stiffness, boundary rotational constraint stiffness, and boundary lateral support stiffness according to the measured multiorder frequencies in a synchronous manner. The feasibility and accuracy of this method were validated through numerical cases. Finally, the proposed approach was applied to the tension identification of the anchor span strands of a suspension bridge (Jindong Bridge) in China. The results of cable tension identification using the proposed method and the existing methods discussed in previous studies were compared with the on-site pressure ring measurement results. The comparison showed that the proposed approach had a high accuracy in cable tension identification.

Evolutionary Computation is a group of biologically inspired algorithms used to solve complex optimisation problems. It can be split into Evolutionary Algorithms, which take inspiration from genetic inheritance, and Swarm Intelligence algorithms, that take inspiration from cultural inheritance. However, recent developments have focused on computational or mathematical adaptions, leaving their biological roots behind. This has left much of the modern evolutionary literature relatively unexplored. To understand which evolutionary mechanisms have been considered, and which have been overlooked, this paper breaks down successful bio-inspired algorithms under a contemporary biological framework based on the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, an extension of the classical, genetics focussed, Modern Synthesis. The analysis shows that Darwinism and the Modern Synthesis have been incorporated into Evolutionary Computation but that the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis has been broadly ignored beyond:cultural inheritance, incorporated in the sub-set of Swarm Intelligence algorithms, evolvability, through CMA-ES, and multilevel selection, through Multi-Level Selection Genetic Algorithm. The framework shows a missing gap in epigenetic inheritance for Evolutionary Computation, despite being a key building block in modern interpretations of how evolution occurs. Epigenetic inheritance can explain fast adaptation, without changes in an individual's genotype, by allowing biological organisms to self-adapt quickly to environmental cues, which, increases the speed of convergence while maintaining stability in changing environments. This leaves a diverse range of biologically inspired mechanisms as low hanging fruit that should be explored further within Evolutionary Computation.

There is no agreed definition of intelligence, so it is problematic to simply ask whether brains, swarms, computers, or other systems are intelligent or not. To compare the potential intelligence exhibited by different cognitive systems, I use the common approach used by artificial intelligence and artificial life: Instead of studying the substrate of systems, let us focus on their organization. This organization can be measured with information. Thus, I apply an informationist epistemology to describe cognitive systems, including brains and computers. This allows me to frame the usefulness and limitations of the brain-computer analogy in different contexts. I also use this perspective to discuss the evolution and ecology of intelligence.

Efficient GPU resource scheduling is essential to maximize resource utilization and save training costs for the increasing amount of deep learning workloads in shared GPU clusters. Existing GPU schedulers largely rely on static policies to leverage the performance characteristics of deep learning jobs. However, they can hardly reach optimal efficiency due to the lack of elasticity. To address the problem, we propose ONES, an ONline Evolutionary Scheduler for elastic batch size orchestration. ONES automatically manages the elasticity of each job based on the training batch size, so as to maximize GPU utilization and improve scheduling efficiency. It determines the batch size for each job through an online evolutionary search that can continuously optimize the scheduling decisions. We evaluate the effectiveness of ONES with 64 GPUs on TACC's Longhorn supercomputers. The results show that ONES can outperform the prior deep learning schedulers with a significantly shorter average job completion time.

In more and more application areas, we are witnessing the emergence of complex workflows that combine computing, analytics and learning. They often require a hybrid execution infrastructure with IoT devices interconnected to cloud/HPC systems (aka Computing Continuum). Such workflows are subject to complex constraints and requirements in terms of performance, resource usage, energy consumption and financial costs. This makes it challenging to optimize their configuration and deployment. We propose a methodology to support the optimization of real-life applications on the Edge-to-Cloud Continuum. We implement it as an extension of E2Clab, a previously proposed framework supporting the complete experimental cycle across the Edge-to-Cloud Continuum. Our approach relies on a rigorous analysis of possible configurations in a controlled testbed environment to understand their behaviour and related performance trade-offs. We illustrate our methodology by optimizing Pl@ntNet, a world-wide plant identification application. Our methodology can be generalized to other applications in the Edge-to-Cloud Continuum.