Interacting with Evolution Sample Clauses

Interacting with Evolution. Computers are a big part of almost every person’s work and life nowadays, yet despite our best efforts and intentions computers are not like humans. This means that there is a clear disconnect in the communication between computers and humans. We don’t understand each other. The reason we use computers at all is for the simple fact that they are faster and more precise than humans. This means that by using a computer we can solve problems that are much larger and more complex than anything we have solved in the past. We can simulate the physical world, iterate through mathemat- ical equations and visualize virtual output in great detail. The computer has opened up a world of possibilities that we are only just starting to uti- lize. The main problem in using the computer effectively is interaction. The more complex the task is that a user wants the computer to perform, the more complicated the interface becomes between the human and the computer. The field that studies this interaction is amply called Human Computer In- teraction. It studies ways to efficiently use a computer screen, a mouse, task bar, windows, buttons, sliders, images and text to name a few. It studies how humans like to work, what is intuitive and what is not. When computers are running complex algorithms that take parameters and input from the user while they are running, we are taking about a subset of HCI: Human Algorithm Interaction. Instead of concentrating on what the user finds intuitive, this concentrates more on how a certain algorithm can be manipulated by a user and what effect this has on the algorithm in question. The benefit of human input to algorithms is especially apparent when an algorithm can make use of the experience of a human specialist. A civil engineer for instance might have acquired knowledge over the years that is very hard to put into a computer algorithm. Not only is it hard to define one algorithm that takes care of all exceptions the engineer has en- countered in his work, but the engineer will also have trouble relaying all those exceptions without having a situation to remind him. Human Algo- rithm Interaction gives a user the ability to solve a complex problem with a relatively simple algorithm and let a human steer that algorithm using his expert knowledge of the problem. A lot of complex problems have complex specific algorithms to solve the problem. Generating such a specific algorithm usually means that a lot of knowledge of the problem needs to be ...