Fuzzy Classification by Evolutionary Algorithms

Abstract—Fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic can be used for efficient data classification by fuzzy rules and fuzzy classifiers. This paper presents an application of genetic programming to the evolution of fuzzy classifiers based on extended Boolean queries. Extended Boolean queries are well known concept in the area of fuzzy information retrieval. An extended Boolean query represents a complex soft search expression that defines a fuzzy set on the collection of searched documents. We interpret the data mining task as a fuzzy information retrieval problem and we apply a proven method for query induction from data to find useful fuzzy classifiers. The ability of the genetic programming to evolve useful fuzzy classifiers is demonstrated on two use cases in which we detect faulty products in a product processing plant and discover intrusions in a computer network. Index Terms—fuzzy sets, data mining, evolutionary computing I