Automated Extraction of Problem Structure

13 years 10 months ago

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Most problems studied in artiﬁcial intelligence possess some form of structure, but a precise way to deﬁne such structure is so far lacking. We investigate how the notion of problem structure can be made precise, and propose a formal deﬁnition of problem structure. The deﬁnition is applicable to problems in which the quality of candidate solutions is evaluated by means of a series of tests. This speciﬁes a wide range of problems: tests can be examples in classiﬁcation, test sequences for a sorting network, or opponents for board games. Based on our deﬁnition of problem structure, we provide an automatic procedure for problem structure extraction, and results of proof-of-concept experiments. The deﬁnition of problem structure assigns a precise meaning to the notion of the underlying objectives of a problem, a concept which has been used to explain how one can evaluate individuals in a coevolutionary setting. The ability to analyze and represent problem structure may yiel...

Anthony Bucci, Jordan B. Pollack, Edwin D. de Jong

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