Human-Based Evolutionary Computing

Abstract

Evolution explains the way the natural world changes over time. It can also explain changes in the artificial world, such as the way ideas replicate, alter, and merge. This analogy has led to a family of related computer procedures called evolutionary algorithms. These algorithms are being used to produce product designs, art, and solutions to mathematical problems. While for the most part these algorithms are run on computers, they also can be performed by people. Such human-based evolutionary algorithms are useful when many different ideas, designs, or solutions need to be generated, and human cognition is called for.

Keywords: crowd work, crowdsourcing, evolutionary algorithms, genetic algorithms, collective learning, innovation, combination

JEL Classification: L23, 031