Genetic programming (GP) is a method for getting a computer to solve a problem by telling it what needs to be done instead of how to do it. Koza, Bennett, Andre, and Keane present genetically evolved solutions to dozens of problems of design, control, classification, system identification, and computational molecular biology. Among the solutions are 14 results competitive with human-produced results, including 10 rediscoveries of previously patented inventions.

Genetic Programming IV: Routine Human-Competitive Machine Intelligence presents the application of GP to a wide variety of problems involving automated synthesis of controllers, circuits, antennas, genetic networks, and metabolic pathways. The book describes fifteen instances where GP has created an entity that either infringes or duplicates the functionality of a previously patented 20th-century invention, six instances where it has done the same with respect to post-2000 patented inventions, two instances where GP has created a patentable new invention, and thirteen other human-competitive results. The book additionally establishes: GP now delivers routine human-competitive machine intelligence GP is an automated invention machine GP can create general solutions to problems in the form of parameterized topologies GP has delivered qualitatively more substantial results in synchrony with the relentless iteration of Moore's Law

The work described in this book was first presented at the Second Workshop on Genetic Programming, Theory and Practice, organized by the Center for the Study of Complex Systems at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 13-15 May 2004. The goal of this workshop series is to promote the exchange of research results and ideas between those who focus on Genetic Programming (GP) theory and those who focus on the application of GP to various re- world problems. In order to facilitate these interactions, the number of talks and participants was small and the time for discussion was large. Further, participants were asked to review each other's chapters before the workshop. Those reviewer comments, as well as discussion at the workshop, are reflected in the chapters presented in this book. Additional information about the workshop, addendums to chapters, and a site for continuing discussions by participants and by others can be found at http://cscs.umich.edu:8000/GPTP-20041. We thank all the workshop participants for making the workshop an exciting and productive three days. In particular we thank all the authors, without whose hard work and creative talents, neither the workshop nor the book would be possible. We also thank our keynote speakers Lawrence ("Dave") Davis of NuTech Solutions, Inc., Jordan Pollack of Brandeis University, and Richard Lenski of Michigan State University, who delivered three thought-provoking speeches that inspired a great deal of discussion among the participants.

In this ground-breaking book, John Koza shows how this remarkable paradigm works and provides substantial empirical evidence that solutions to a great variety of problems from many different fields can be found by genetically breeding populations of computer programs. Genetic programming may be more powerful than neural networks and other machine learning techniques, able to solve problems in a wider range of disciplines. In this ground-breaking book, John Koza shows how this remarkable paradigm works and provides substantial empirical evidence that solutions to a great variety of problems from many different fields can be found by genetically breeding populations of computer programs. Genetic Programming contains a great many worked examples and includes a sample computer code that will allow readers to run their own programs.In getting computers to solve problems without being explicitly programmed, Koza stresses two points: that seemingly different problems from a variety of fields can be reformulated as problems of program induction, and that the recently developed genetic programming paradigm provides a way to search the space of possible computer programs for a highly fit individual computer program to solve the problems of program induction. Good programs are found by evolving them in a computer against a fitness measure instead of by sitting down and writing them.

Linear Genetic Programming presents a variant of Genetic Programming that evolves imperative computer programs as linear sequences of instructions, in contrast to the more traditional functional expressions or syntax trees. Typical GP phenomena, such as non-effective code, neutral variations, and code growth are investigated from the perspective of linear GP. This book serves as a reference for researchers; it includes sufficient introductory material for students and newcomers to the field.

After a decade of development, genetic algorithms and genetic programming have become a widely accepted toolkit for computational finance. Genetic Algorithms and Genetic Programming in Computational Finance is a pioneering volume devoted entirely to a systematic and comprehensive review of this subject. Chapters cover various areas of computational finance, including financial forecasting, trading strategies development, cash flow management, option pricing, portfolio management, volatility modeling, arbitraging, and agent-based simulations of artificial stock markets. Two tutorial chapters are also included to help readers quickly grasp the essence of these tools. Finally, a menu-driven software program, Simple GP, accompanies the volume, which will enable readers without a strong programming background to gain hands-on experience in dealing with much of the technical material introduced in this work.

Genetic programming (GP) is a systematic, domain-independent method for getting computers to solve problems automatically starting from a high-level statement of what needs to be done. Using ideas from natural evolution, GP starts from an ooze of random computer programs, and progressively refines them through processes of mutation and sexual recombination, until high-fitness solutions emerge. All this without the user having to know or specify the form or structure of solutions in advance. GP has generated a plethora of human-competitive results and applications, including novel scientific discoveries and patentable inventions. This unique overview of this exciting technique is written by three of the most active scientists in GP. See www.gp-field-guide.org.uk for more information on the book.