text: Neuroevolution has yet to scale up to complex reinforcement learning tasks that require large networks. Networks with many inputs (e.g. raw video) imply a very high dimensional search space if encoded directly. Indirect methods use a more compact genotype representation that is transformed into networks of potentially arbitrary size. In this paper, we present an indirect method where networks are encoded by a set of Fourier coefficients which are transformed into network weight matrices via an inverse Fourier-type transform. Because there often exist network solutions whose weight matrices contain regularity (i.e. adjacent weights are correlated), the number of coefficients required to represent these networks in the frequency domain is much smaller than the number of weights (in the same way that natural images can be compressed by ignore high-frequency components). This "compressed" encoding is compared to the direct approach where search is conducted in the weight space on the high-dimensional octopus arm task. The results show that representing networks in the frequency domain can reduce the search-space dimensionality by as much as two orders of magnitude, both accelerating convergence and yielding more general solutions.
  @cite_6: Many machine learning algorithms aim at finding “simple” rules to explain training data. The expectation is: the “simpler” the rules, the better the generalization on test data (→ Occam's razor). Most practical implementations, however, use measures for “simplicity” that lack the power, universality and elegance of those based on Kolmogorov complexity and Solomonoff's algorithmic probability. Likewise, most previous approaches (especially those of the “Bayesian” kind) suffer from the problem of choosing appropriate priors. This paper addresses both issues. It first reviews some basic concepts of algorithmic complexity theory relevant to machine learning, and how the Solomonoff-Levin distribution (or universal prior) deals with the prior problem. The universal prior leads to a probabilistic method for finding “algorithmically simple” problem solutions with high generalization capability. The method is based on Levin complexity (a time-bounded extension of Kolmogorov complexity) and inspired by Levin's optimal universal search algorithm. With a given problem, solution candidates are computed by efficient “self-sizing” programs that influence their own runtime and storage size. The probabilistic search algorithm finds the “good” programs (the ones quickly computing algorithmically probable solutions fitting the training data). Experiments focus on the task of discovering “algorithmically simple” neural networks with low Kolmogorov complexity and high generalization capability. These experiments demonstrate that the method, at least with certain toy problems where it is computationally feasible, can lead to generalization results unmatchable by previous neural net algorithms.
  @cite_8: Abstract Many neural net learning algorithms aim at finding “simple” nets to explain training data. The expectation is that the “simpler” the networks, the better the generalization on test data (→ Occam's razor). Previous implementations, however, use measures for “simplicity” that lack the power, universality and elegance of those based on Kolmogorov complexity and Solomonoff's algorithmic probability. Likewise, most previous approaches (especially those of the “Bayesian” kind) suffer from the problem of choosing appropriate priors. This paper addresses both issues. It first reviews some basic concepts of algorithmic complexity theory relevant to machine learing, and how the Solomonoff-Levin distribution (or universal prior) deals with the prior problem. The universal prior leads to a probabilistic method for finding “algorithmically simple” problem solutions with high generalization capability. The method is based on Levin complexity (a time-bounded generalization of Kolmogorov complexity) and inspired by Levin's optimal universal search algorithm. For a given problem, solution candidates are computed by efficient “self-sizing” programs that influence their own runtime and storage size. The probabilistic search algorithm finds the “good” programs (the ones quickly computing algorithmically probable solutions fitting the training data). Simulations focus on the task of discovering “algorithmically simple” neural networks with low Kolmogorov complexity and high generalization capability. It is demonstrated that the method, at least with certain toy problems where it is computationally feasible, can lead to generalization results unmatchable by previous neural network algorithms. Much remains to be done, however, to make large scale applications and “incremental learning” feasible. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.
summary: @cite_6 @cite_8 used a simple set of program instructions to describe perceptron weight matrix showing that short programs can represent scalable solutions to problems that require a regular weight vector.