Poor-definition, uncertainty, and human factors-satisfying multiple objectives in real-world decision-making environments

Abstract

Ill-definition, uncertainty and multiple objectives are primary characteristics of real-world decision-making processes. During the initial stages of such processes little knowledge appertaining to the problem at hand may be available. A primary task relates to improving problem definition in terms of variables, constraint and both quantitative and qualitative objectives. The problem space develops with information gained in a dynamical process where optimisation plays a secondary role following the establishment of a well-defined problem domain. The paper speculates upon the role of evolutionary computing, complementary computational intelligence techniques and interactive systems that support such problem definition where multiobjective satisfaction plays a major role.