Soft computing

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Soft computing is a collective term for various fields of work in computer science that deal with approximate solution methods that are similar to natural information processing. These disciplines are differentiated from the exact numerical processes for which computers are traditionally used.

Origin and delimitation of the term

The term was introduced in the early 1990s by Lotfi Zadeh , the founder of fuzzy logic . He formulated the goal of soft computing to "imitate the ability of humans to effectively use methods of reasoning that are only approximate and not exact."

The following sub-areas of artificial intelligence count as core areas of soft computing :

The areas of machine learning , rough set theory , approaches from chaos research and support vector machines are also often added .

Computational Intelligence (CI) can be seen as an important goal of soft computing . However, the latter term, coined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), is often used synonymously with soft computing, at least there are extensive overlaps.

Applications

The various fields of activity of soft computing have proven themselves in different areas. Evolutionary algorithms are used for optimization problems , fuzzy logic is dominant in control engineering applications, while the use of artificial neural networks has proven itself in classification and pattern recognition . Soft computing also plays a role in theory formation in various areas of knowledge, such as in neurosciences or evolutionary research or various engineering sciences .

Research approaches of the more recent times try to combine the different soft computing approaches with the development of hybrid systems or to unite them with classical methods. The aim is to combine the advantages of the various approaches.

literature

  • Wolfram-Manfred Lippe: Soft Computing. Springer-Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-540-20972-7

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wolfram-Manfred Lippe: Soft Computing. Springer-Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-540-20972-7 , p. VII.
  2. ↑ a b c d Hermann Helbig: World riddle from the point of view of modern science: emergence in nature, society, psychology, technology and religion. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 3-662-56288-X , pp. 542f.
  3. ↑ Lotfi A. Zadeh: Fuzzy logic, neural networks, and soft computing. In: Communications of the ACM. 1994, pp. 77-84 ( abstract ).
  4. ↑ a b c d e Volker Nissen: Soft Computing. In: Encyclopedia of Information Systems. Chair of Information Systems, University of Potsdam, accessed on March 15, 2019