abstract = "Machine learning is a robust process by which a
computer can discover characteristics of underlying
data that enable it to create a model for making future
predictions or classifications from new data. Designing
machine learning pipelines, unfortunately, is often as
much an art as it is a science, requiring pairing of
feature construction, feature selection, and learning
methods, all with their own sets of parameters. No
general machine learning pipeline solution exists; each
dataset has unique characteristics that make a
particular set of methods and parameters better suited
to solving the problem than others. To respond to the
challenge of machine learning pipeline design, the
field of automated machine learning (autoML) has
recently emerged. AutoML seeks to automate the often
arduous work of a data scientist, so they can focus on
the underlying meanings of the data and spend less time
on the tedium of pipeline design and tuning. This
dissertation adapts and applies genetic programming to
the newly emergent field of automated machine learning.
Genetic programming enables the artificial evolution of
an algorithm through a nearly infinite search space
that otherwise requires a randomized search. This
dissertation shows that through the process of genetic
programming, it is possible to produce machine learning
pipelines, and the evolved pipelines can outperform
those created by human researchers.",
notes = "
Supervisor: Thomas Michaels. Supervisor: Aaron
Lanterman.",