What optimization problems do you want to have solved?

Question

I love to work on AI optimization software (Genetic Algorithms, Particle Swarm, Ant Colony, ...). Unfortunately, I have run out of interesting problems to solve. What problem would you like to have solved?

Answer 1

Real-life examples of optimization problems

• Scheduling

– What is given: There is a set of tasks to be completed, with durations and with mutual constraints (e.g. task ordering; joint resources).

– The goal is: Your goal is to generate the shortest schedule (assignment of start times to tasks) possible.

• VLSI circuit layout

– What is given: There is a board, components, and connections of the circuit.

– The goal is: We have to place each component on the board such as to maximize energy efficiency and minimize the production cost.

• In AI: learning, for example:

– What is given: There are customers that are described by their characteristics (age, occupation, gender, location, etc) and their previous book purchases.

– The goal is: We have to find a function from customer characteristics to books which maximize the probability of purchase of the particular book.