Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match: Geometric, Variational, and Evolutionary Implications of Criteria for Tag Affinity

TL;DR

This paper investigates how different tag-matching criteria affect connectivity, mutation variation, and evolution in genetic programming and artificial life, revealing their impact on adaptive evolution and solution quality.

Contribution

It analyzes the geometric, variational, and evolutionary implications of tag-matching criteria, highlighting their influence on connectivity and evolutionary dynamics.

Findings

Tag-matching criteria influence connectivity patterns.

They affect the rate of adaptive evolution.

They impact the quality of evolved solutions.

Abstract

Genetic programming and artificial life systems commonly employ tag-matching schemes to determine interactions between model components. However, the implications of criteria used to determine affinity between tags with respect to constraints on emergent connectivity, canalization of changes to connectivity under mutation, and evolutionary dynamics have not been considered. We highlight differences between tag-matching criteria with respect to geometric constraint and variation generated under mutation. We find that tag-matching criteria can influence the rate of adaptive evolution and the quality of evolved solutions. Better understanding of the geometric, variational, and evolutionary properties of tag-matching criteria will facilitate more effective incorporation of tag matching into genetic programming and artificial life systems. By showing that tag-matching criteria influence connectivity patterns and evolutionary dynamics, our findings also raise fundamental questions about the properties of tag-matching systems in nature.