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Evolutionary algorithms have been frequently applied to constrained continuous optimisation problems. We carry out feature based comparisons of different types of evolutionary algorithms such as evolution strategies, differential evolution…
We present an approach to explain the decisions of black box models for image classification. While using the black box to label images, our explanation method exploits the latent feature space learned through an adversarial autoencoder.…
Optimization of real-world black-box functions defined over purely categorical variables is an active area of research. In particular, optimization and design of biological sequences with specific functional or structural properties have a…
The application of machine learning (ML) models to the analysis of optimization algorithms requires the representation of optimization problems using numerical features. These features can be used as input for ML models that are trained to…
The increasing importance of robots and automation creates a demand for learnable controllers which can be obtained through various approaches such as Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) or Reinforcement Learning (RL). Unfortunately, these two…
Evolution has produced an astonishing diversity of species, each filling a different niche. Algorithms like MAP-Elites mimic this divergent evolutionary process to find a set of behaviorally diverse but high-performing solutions, called the…
We propose Black Box Explanations through Transparent Approximations (BETA), a novel model agnostic framework for explaining the behavior of any black-box classifier by simultaneously optimizing for fidelity to the original model and…
We study the problem of black-box optimization of a noisy function in the presence of low-cost approximations or fidelities, which is motivated by problems like hyper-parameter tuning. In hyper-parameter tuning evaluating the black-box…
Evolutionary algorithms excel in solving complex optimization problems, especially those with multiple objectives. However, their stochastic nature can sometimes hinder rapid convergence to the global optima, particularly in scenarios…
Recent approaches to training algorithm selectors in the black-box optimisation domain have advocated for the use of training data that is algorithm-centric in order to encapsulate information about how an algorithm performs on an instance,…
Different types of evolutionary algorithms have been developed for constrained continuous optimization. We carry out a feature-based analysis of evolved constrained continuous optimization instances to understand the characteristics of…
Chance constrained optimization problems allow to model problems where constraints involving stochastic components should only be violated with a small probability. Evolutionary algorithms have been applied to this scenario and shown to…
The most data-efficient algorithms for reinforcement learning (RL) in robotics are based on uncertain dynamical models: after each episode, they first learn a dynamical model of the robot, then they use an optimization algorithm to find a…
Theoretical and empirical research on evolutionary computation methods complement each other by providing two fundamentally different approaches towards a better understanding of black-box optimization heuristics. In discrete optimization,…
We consider various stochastic models that incorporate the notion of risk-averseness into the standard 2-stage recourse model, and develop novel techniques for solving the algorithmic problems arising in these models. A key notable feature…
Zeroth-order local optimisation algorithms are essential for solving real-valued black-box optimisation problems. Among these, Natural Evolution Strategies (NES) represent a prominent class, particularly well-suited for scenarios where…
In this note, we extend an evolutionary stochastic portfolio optimization framework to include probabilistic constraints. Both the stochastic programming-based modeling environment as well as the evolutionary optimization environment are…
A randomized algorithm for computing a compressed representation of a given rank-structured matrix $A \in \mathbb{R}^{N\times N}$ is presented. The algorithm interacts with $A$ only through its action on vectors. Specifically, it draws two…
Despite significant empirical and theoretically supported evidence that non-static parameter choices can be strongly beneficial in evolutionary computation, the question how to best adjust parameter values plays only a marginal role in…
Black-box AI (BBAI) systems such as foundational models are increasingly being used for sequential decision making. To ensure that such systems are safe to operate and deploy, it is imperative to develop efficient methods that can provide a…