What is the difference between informed and uninformed searches?

Question

What is the difference between informed and uninformed searches? Can you explain this with some examples?

Answer 1

An uninformed search is a searching technique that has no additional information about the distance from the current state to the goal.

Informed Search is another technique that has additional information about the estimate distance from the current state to the goal.

Basis of comparison	Informed search	Uninformed search
Basic knowledge	Uses knowledge to find the steps to the solution.	No use of knowledge
Efficiency	Highly efficient as consumes less time and cost.	Efficiency is mediatory
Cost	Low	Comparatively high
Performance	Finds the solution more quickly.	Speed is slower than the informed search.
Algorithms	Heuristic depth-first and breadth-first search, and A* search	Depth-first search, breadth-first search, and lowest cost first search

If you want to make your career in Artificial Intelligence then go through this video:

Comments

Very well explained!

---

This was easy to understand. Thank you.

---

Thanks for this clear explanation.

---

Very nice answer!

---

Uniformed search is less efficient whereas informed search is more efficient.

---

Very good explanation!

Answer 2

Key Differences Between Informed and Uninformed Search

• The former informed search technique uses knowledge in order to find a solution. 
• The latter uninformed search technique does not use knowledge. 
• In simpler terms, the uninformed search doesn't know any further information about the solution.
• In terms of efficiency informed search is better than the uninformed search.
• Uninformed search consumes more time and cost as it has no clue about the solution as compared to an informed search.
• Depth-first search, breadth-first search, and lowest cost first search are the algorithms come under the category of the uninformed search. T
• The informed search covers the algorithms such as heuristic depth-first, heuristic breadth-first search, and A* search.

Conclusion

The informed search will provide the direction regarding the solution while in uninformed search has no suggestion regarding the solution. This makes an uninformed search more lengthy when the algorithm is implemented.

Comments

"In terms of efficiency"-- which efficiency? can you elaborate more???

---

i think by efficiency he means accuracy

Answer 3

Uninformed search:-

It is called as brute-force or "blind" search. Uninformed Searched uses no knowledge about the problem, hence possibly less efficient than an informed search.

Examples of uninformed search algorithm:-

Breadth-first search and Depth-first search, Depth-limited search, Uniform-cost search, Depth-first iterative deepening search and bidirectional search.

Informed search:-

It is also called "heuristic search", it uses prior knowledge or "domain knowledge" about the problem, hence possibly more efficient than uninformed search.

Examples of informed search algorithm:-

Best-first search and A*.