Human-Centric Evolutionary Systems in Design and Decision-Making

Abstract

The chapter introduces the concept of user-centric evolutionary design and decision-support systems, and positions them in terms of interactive evolutionary computing. Current research results provide two examples that illustrate differing degrees of user interaction in terms of subjective criteria evaluation; the extraction, processing, and presentation of high-quality information; and the associated improvement of machine-based problem representation. The first example relates to the inclusion of subjective aesthetic criteria to complement quantitative evaluation in the conceptual design of bridge structures. The second relates to the succinct graphical presentation of complex relationships between variable and objective space, and the manner in which this can support a better understanding of a problem domain. This improved understanding can contribute to the iterative improvement of initial machine-based representations. Both examples complement and add to earlier research relating to interactive evolutionary design systems.