Goto

Collaborating Authors

 Evolutionary Systems


\texttt{R$^\textbf{2}$AI}: Towards Resistant and Resilient AI in an Evolving World

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

In this position paper, we address the persistent gap between rapidly growing AI capabilities and lagging safety progress. Existing paradigms divide into ``Make AI Safe'', which applies post-hoc alignment and guardrails but remains brittle and reactive, and ``Make Safe AI'', which emphasizes intrinsic safety but struggles to address unforeseen risks in open-ended environments. We therefore propose \textit{safe-by-coevolution} as a new formulation of the ``Make Safe AI'' paradigm, inspired by biological immunity, in which safety becomes a dynamic, adversarial, and ongoing learning process. To operationalize this vision, we introduce \texttt{R$^2$AI} -- \textit{Resistant and Resilient AI} -- as a practical framework that unites resistance against known threats with resilience to unforeseen risks. \texttt{R$^2$AI} integrates \textit{fast and slow safe models}, adversarial simulation and verification through a \textit{safety wind tunnel}, and continual feedback loops that guide safety and capability to coevolve. We argue that this framework offers a scalable and proactive path to maintain continual safety in dynamic environments, addressing both near-term vulnerabilities and long-term existential risks as AI advances toward AGI and ASI.


MORSE: Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning via Strategy Evolution for Supply Chain Optimization

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

In supply chain management, decision-making often involves balancing multiple conflicting objectives, such as cost reduction, service level improvement, and environmental sustainability. Traditional multi-objective optimization methods, such as linear programming and evolutionary algorithms, struggle to adapt in real-time to the dynamic nature of supply chains. In this paper, we propose an approach that combines Reinforcement Learning (RL) and Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs) to address these challenges for dynamic multi-objective optimization under uncertainty. Our method leverages MOEAs to search the parameter space of policy neural networks, generating a Pareto front of policies. This provides decision-makers with a diverse population of policies that can be dynamically switched based on the current system objectives, ensuring flexibility and adaptability in real-time decision-making. We also introduce Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR) to incorporate risk-sensitive decision-making, enhancing resilience in uncertain environments. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach through case studies, showcasing its ability to respond to supply chain dynamics and outperforming state-of-the-art methods in an inventory management case study. The proposed strategy not only improves decision-making efficiency but also offers a more robust framework for managing uncertainty and optimizing performance in supply chains.


IGAff: Benchmarking Adversarial Iterative and Genetic Affine Algorithms on Deep Neural Networks

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Deep neural networks currently dominate many fields of the artificial intelligence landscape, achieving state-of-the-art results on numerous tasks while remaining hard to understand and exhibiting surprising weaknesses. An active area of research focuses on adversarial attacks, which aim to generate inputs that uncover these weaknesses. However, this proves challenging, especially in the black-box scenario where model details are inaccessible. This paper explores in detail the impact of such adversarial algorithms on ResNet-18, DenseNet-121, Swin Transformer V2, and Vision Transformer network architectures. Leveraging the Tiny ImageNet, Caltech-256, and Food-101 datasets, we benchmark two novel black-box iterative adversarial algorithms based on affine transformations and genetic algorithms: 1) Affine Transformation Attack (A T A), an iterative algorithm maximizing our attack score function using random affine transformations, and 2) Affine Genetic Attack (AGA), a genetic algorithm that involves random noise and affine transformations. We evaluate the performance of the models in the algorithm parameter variation, data augmentation, and global and targeted attack configurations. We also compare our algorithms with two black-box adversarial algorithms, Pixle and Square Attack. Our experiments yield better results on the image classification task than similar methods in the literature, achieving an accuracy improvement of up to 8.82%. We provide noteworthy insights into successful adversarial defenses and attacks at both global and targeted levels, and demonstrate adversarial robustness through algorithm parameter variation.


Microrobot Vascular Parkour: Analytic Geometry-based Path Planning with Real-time Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Autonomous microrobots in blood vessels could enable minimally invasive therapies, but navigation is challenged by dense, moving obstacles. We propose a real-time path planning framework that couples an analytic geometry global planner (AGP) with two reactive local escape controllers, one based on rules and one based on reinforcement learning, to handle sudden moving obstacles. Using real-time imaging, the system estimates the positions of the microrobot, obstacles, and targets and computes collision-free motions. In simulation, AGP yields shorter paths and faster planning than weighted A* (WA*), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and rapidly exploring random trees (RRT), while maintaining feasibility and determinism. We extend AGP from 2D to 3D without loss of speed. In both simulations and experiments, the combined global planner and local controllers reliably avoid moving obstacles and reach targets. The average planning time is 40 ms per frame, compatible with 25 fps image acquisition and real-time closed-loop control. These results advance autonomous microrobot navigation and targeted drug delivery in vascular environments.


Forward kinematics of a general Stewart-Gough platform by elimination templates

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

The paper proposes an efficient algebraic solution to the problem of forward kinematics for a general Stewart-Gough platform. The problem involves determining all possible postures of a mobile platform connected to a fixed base by six legs, given the leg lengths and the internal geometries of the platform and base. The problem is known to have 40 solutions (whether real or complex). The proposed algorithm consists of three main steps: (i) a specific sparse matrix of size 293x362 (the elimination template) is constructed from the coefficients of the polynomial system describing the platform's kinematics; (ii) the PLU decomposition of this matrix is used to construct a pair of 69x69 matrices; (iii) all 40 solutions (including complex ones) are obtained by computing the generalized eigenvectors of this matrix pair. The proposed algorithm is numerically robust, computationally efficient, and straightforward to implement - requiring only standard linear algebra decompositions. MATLAB, Julia, and Python implementations of the algorithm will be made publicly available.


Odometry Calibration and Pose Estimation of a 4WIS4WID Mobile Wall Climbing Robot

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

--This paper presents the design of a pose estimator for a four wheel independent steer four wheel independent drive (4WIS4WID) wall climbing mobile robot, based on the fusion of multimodal measurements, including wheel odometry, visual odometry, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) data using Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF). The pose estimator is a critical component of wall climbing mobile robots, as their operational environment involves carrying precise measurement equipment and maintenance tools in construction, requiring information about pose on the building at the time of measurement. Due to the complex geometry and material properties of building fac ades, the use of traditional localization sensors such as laser, ultrasonic, or radar is often infeasible for wall-climbing robots. Moreover, GPS-based localization is generally unreliable in these environments because of signal degradation caused by reinforced concrete and electromagnetic interference. Consequently, robot odometry remains the primary source of velocity and position information, despite being susceptible to drift caused by both systematic and non-systematic errors. The calibrations of the robot's systematic parameters were conducted using nonlinear optimization and Levenberg-Marquardt methods as Newton-Gauss and gradient-based model fitting methods, while Genetic algorithm and Particle swarm were used as stochastic based methods for kinematic parameter calibration. Performance and results of the calibration methods and pose estimators were validated in detail with experiments on the experimental mobile wall climbing robot.


Correlated Mutations for Integer Programming

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Even with the recent theoretical advancements that dramatically reduced the complexity of Integer Programming (IP), heuristics remain the dominant problem-solvers for this difficult category. This study seeks to establish the groundwork for Integer Evolution Strategies (IESs), a class of randomized search heuristics inherently designed for continuous spaces. IESs already excel in treating IP in practice, but accomplish it via discretization and by applying sophisticated patches to their continuous operators, while persistently using the $\ell_2$-norm as their operation pillar. We lay foundations for discrete search, by adopting the $\ell_1$-norm, accounting for the suitable step-size, and questioning alternative measures to quantify correlations over the integer lattice. We focus on mutation distributions for unbounded integer decision variables. We briefly discuss a couple of candidate discrete probabilities induced by the uniform and binomial distributions, which we show to possess less appealing theoretical properties, and then narrow down to the Truncated Normal (TN) and Double Geometric (DG) distributions. We explore their theoretical properties, including entropy functions, and propose a procedure to generate scalable correlated mutation distributions. Our investigations are accompanied by extensive numerical simulations, which consistently support the claim that the DG distribution is better suited for unbounded integer search. We link our theoretical perspective to empirical evidence indicating that an IES with correlated DG mutations outperformed other strategies over non-separable quadratic IP. We conclude that while the replacement of the default TN distribution by the DG is theoretically justified and practically beneficial, the truly crucial change lies in adopting the $\ell_1$-norm over the $\ell_2$-norm.


Expedition & Expansion: Leveraging Semantic Representations for Goal-Directed Exploration in Continuous Cellular Automata

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Discovering diverse visual patterns in continuous cellular automata (CA) is challenging due to the vastness and redundancy of high-dimensional behavioral spaces. Traditional exploration methods like Novelty Search (NS) expand locally by mutating known novel solutions but often plateau when local novelty is exhausted, failing to reach distant, unexplored regions. We introduce Expedition and Expansion (E&E), a hybrid strategy where exploration alternates between local novelty-driven expansions and goal-directed expeditions. During expeditions, E&E leverages a Vision-Language Model (VLM) to generate linguistic goals--descriptions of interesting but hypothetical patterns that drive exploration toward uncharted regions. By operating in semantic spaces that align with human perception, E&E both evaluates novelty and generates goals in conceptually meaningful ways, enhancing the interpretability and relevance of discovered behaviors. Tested on Flow Lenia, a continuous CA known for its rich, emergent behaviors, E&E consistently uncovers more diverse solutions than existing exploration methods. A genealogical analysis further reveals that solutions originating from expeditions disproportionately influence long-term exploration, unlocking new behavioral niches that serve as stepping stones for subsequent search. These findings highlight E&E's capacity to break through local novelty boundaries and explore behavioral landscapes in human-aligned, interpretable ways, offering a promising template for open-ended exploration in artificial life and beyond.


Key Principles in Cross-Domain Hyper-Heuristic Performance

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

In this respect, existing selection hyper-heuristics primarily focus on an adaptive selection of low-level heuristics (LLHs) from a predefined set. In contrast, we concentrate on the composition of this set and its strategic transformations. We systematically analyze transformations based on three key principles: solution acceptance, LLH repetitions, and perturbation intensity, i.e., the proportion of a solution affected by a perturbative LLH. We demonstrate the raw effects of our transformations on a trivial unbiased random selection mechanism. With an appropriately constructed transformation, this trivial method outperforms all available state-of-the-art hyper-heuristics on three challenging real-world domains and finds 11 new best-known solutions. The same method is competitive with the winner of the CHeSC competition, commonly used as the standard cross-domain benchmark. Moreover, we accompany several recent hyper-heuristics with such strategic transformations. Using this approach, we outperform the current state-of-the-art methods on both the CHeSC benchmark and real-world domains while often simplifying their designs.


Attributes as Textual Genes: Leveraging LLMs as Genetic Algorithm Simulators for Conditional Synthetic Data Generation

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Large Language Models (LLMs) excel at generating synthetic data, but ensuring its quality and diversity remains challenging. We propose Genetic Prompt, a novel framework that combines genetic algorithms with LLMs to augment synthetic data generation. Our approach treats semantic text attributes as gene sequences and leverages the LLM to simulate crossover and mutation operations. This genetic process enhances data quality and diversity by creating novel attribute combinations, yielding synthetic distributions closer to real-world data. To optimize parent selection, we also integrate an active learning scheme that expands the offspring search space. Our experiments on multiple NLP tasks reveal several key findings: Genetic Prompt not only significantly outperforms state-of-the-art baselines but also shows robust performance across various generator model sizes and scales. Moreover, we demonstrate that fusing our synthetic data with the original training set significantly boosts downstream model performance, particularly for class-imbalanced scenarios. Our findings validate that Genetic Prompt is an effective method for producing high-quality synthetic data for a wide range of NLP applications.