Introducing knowledge into learning based on genetic programming.

This work examines various methods for creating empirical equations on the basis of data while taking advantage of knowledge about the problem domain. It is demonstrated that the use of high level concepts aid in evolving equations that are easier to interpret by domain specialists. The application of the approach to real-world problems reveals that the utilization of such concepts results in equations with performance equal or superior to that of human experts. Finally, it is argued that the algorithm is best used as a hypothesis generator assisting scientists in the discovery process.