Genetic Programming - Assignment Example

? Individual Reports on Group Presentations by Group E of the Topic The topic presented by Group E was Genetic Programming. The group started off by giving us the definition of genetic programming .It then moved on to describe in brief the four steps of genetic programming and the history of GP. It also gave us knowledge about the 2 types of breeding operation i.e. Crossover and mutation and how they work. In the end the group gave a description of how genetic programming is used in the working of Siri in apple phones and also gave an indication that the future of genetic programming was in robotics. Apart from this they presented us with the pros and cons of genetic programming. Discussion of the Topic The idea of code evolving the way human genes evolve is really very fascinating and novel but the progress made so far and the results shown by genetic programming are very narrow and limiting (William B. Langdon, 2002).the group showcased SIRI as a masterpiece of genetic programming but I consider it to be a simple algorithm which cannot be compared to evolve like the human genes. Genetic programming as of now can be considered to be only a slight variation on solution searching algorithm (Larson, 2009).The focus of Genetic programming in SIRI or even in robotics has been to converge to a solution. The application of genetic programming only to converge to a solution as quickly as possible is not the way human genes function. So either the name genetic programming needs to be changed or tweaked to make drastic progress in the field. The progress till now has been a failure. (Navet, 2006)The group has mentioned in one of the cons of genetic programming that it uses a lot of computer power. This according to me is no more a disadvantage. The recent progress in computing means that we have more computer cycles than we have use for. So genetic programming is no more unviable due to the computing power it uses. However it will surely become unviable if it does not produces better results. The future research in robotics called as evolutionary robotics may be the way forward to further develop genetic programming. This is something that the group failed to look into in their presentation. Genetic programming where programs generate future programs is the bedrock of artificial intelligence. In order to make robots which can follow our orders or even phones which are really smart, genetic programming needs to evolve a lot. It can make human work easier and help us to reach new levels in industrialisation and development. However genetic programming also threatens to make a lot of human resource obsolete and redundant. If programmes can regenerate, there will be little use of software engineers and programmers. However it is still a long way to go before all that happens. In its present form genetic programming have been a failure and not the promising revolution which the group wants us to believe it is. Marking and Justification Marks: Content Topic Marks Justification Research 15/20 The topic was well researched and presented in a way that a novice can understand. Relevance 7/10 Stuck to the brief but the only drawback was to discuss the failure of genetic programming till now. Topicality 6/10 Robotics and GP not linked Conclusions 8/20 No justification for conclusions given by the group. Marks: Presentation Topic Marks Justification Clarity 8/10 Speakers were loud and easily audible. Structure 5/10 When the speaker changed, there was a break in the flow of thoughts which indicated lack of practice. Materials 9/10 The slides and visual aids were of extremely good quality. Bonus Marks 2/10 Good appearance. Group H Description of the Topic The group focuses on cyber terrorism. The group started by defining cyber terrorism. Although there is no one fixed definition of cyber terrorism, the group chose to give two definitions which are given by United States armed forces and the Collins dictionary. They also tried to provide their own definition but it was weak in content. The group then went on to describe the various forms of cyber terrorism such as hacking, privacy violation, data theft etc. The good point was that the group not only explained the various types but also gave some recent examples in which countries like Iran and Russia were involved in cyber terrorism .This gave a proper perspective as to what cyber terrorism is all about. The group then discussed the impact of cyber terrorism on society and how it affects common man and how it can disrupt our day to day activities. The presentation was ended with a discussion of ways to fight cyber terrorism .Some of them described by the group were education, encryption, cyber squads and system audit. Discussion of the Topic The group was adequately able to describe cyber terrorism and how it is done. However the one thing which was missing was the legislations related to cyber terrorism. This could also have been included in the presentation. The means of fighting cyber terrorism which were given by the group were generic and specific measures taken by the government were not mentioned. The presentation seems incomplete without the description of the Patriot Act and the Cyber security act of 2012. (Pauline C. Reich, 2012)Another facet of cyber terrorism is the misuse of the above mentioned laws. How a balance should be maintained between tough cyber security laws and their apparent misuse. Can the misuse be prevented or will we have to live with it? These are important facts regarding cyber terrorism which affects the common man much more than terrorism itself as it limits our freedom of expression on the internet. The group should have focused on these things too. A good law is one which is implemented well. Cyber laws are extremely difficult to implement. One of the reasons for this is that cyber criminals are technology junkies who are up to date with the recent technologies whereas the law enforcement agencies have a dearth of manpower to effectively tackle cyber terrorism. Perhaps the way out could be to use private individuals and companies to assist government agencies in cyber terror related work. Marking and Justification Marks: Content Topic Marks Justification Research 10/20 Cyber terror laws not mentioned in the ppt. Relevance 5/10 Questions in the project were addressed decently enough Topicality 6/10 Recent cyber attacks were mentioned but efforts to counter them were missing. Conclusion 8/20 There was no proper conclusion made by the group. Marks: Presentation Topic Marks Justification Clarity 8/10 The speakers were audible enough and there was clarity on the topic presented Structure 8/10 There was a proper flow in the presentation and it was well structured Material 7/10 The slides were of good quality and were easily understandable to everyone. Bonus Marks 5/10 All the speakers presented and there was a real connect of the speakers with the audience during the presentation. Group G Description of the Topic The group has discussed the rise and fall of apple and what apple needs to do in the future in order to maintain their lead in the market. They have also tried to identify the growth of the company before and after the death of Steve Jobs. The presentation starts with giving a few facts about apple like the year of its formation and the net worth of the company. It then goes on to evaluate the share price of apple and how it has changed with the launch of various apple products. The group claims that although the share price peaked after Steve Job’s death but it was due to the launch of Apple 5 which was designed by him. The group also gives a breakup of the revenue earned by apple from different products like iphone, Mac etc. It then goes on to list the major competitors of apple in the smart phone arena and shows how the market share of Samsung is rising continuously .The presentation is ended by listing the new products which apple is hoping to bring into the market and the method through which apple can maintain it lead in the market. Discussion of the Topic The presentation has focused a lot on one product of apple – the iphone. There is no focus on the Mac, iTunes and other products of apple. It also fails to describe the real reason for Apple’s success and the reason for its reducing shares. I think the only reason for Apple’s success was that they created a new market category – the Smartphone category. Before the first iphone was launched, Nokia was the undisputed leader of the market and no one believed that Blackberry could be defeated. (Connors, 2012)However Apple created a product which people didn’t even realise that they needed. As the company was an innovator it had the first mover advantage and could easily capture a large portion of the market. However now the company is not producing anything new. The iphone 2 to 5 are not ground breaking innovations, they are simply improvements on the earlier version. So when a company is only producing improvements, it has to face competition. It can no longer behave like the market leader and price its products very high. Apple does not seem to have learned this. Apple phones are still 20% costlier than the similar Samsung phone. Price as a factor of the competition has not been mentioned in the presentation. It is only by providing the same feature at a lower price has Samsung been able to improve its market share. Pricing is especially important because the future growth of the companies depends on emerging economies like India and China which are price sensitive markets. Also the presentation was silent on the latest mobile phone invention – the Google goggles. What will the effect of this invention on apple? Will it position as an innovator is destroyed and will it go into oblivion just like Nokia? Marking and Justification Marks: Content Topic Marks Justification Research 10/20 Pricing strategy and patent wars with Samsung not discussed. Relevance 4/10 Apple’s lack of innovation in the last decade was missing. From an innovator it is now a “me too” company. Topicality 6/10 The latest invention – Google goggles not discussed. Conclusion 8/20 Conclusion does not mean listing of facts discusses. That has already been done in introduction. Marks: Presentation Topic Marks Justification Clarity 5/10 Lack of preparation-one member was inaudible and one read from notes Structure 5/10 Lack of proper flow. Material 4/10 Too many slides and some slides had only a single line – the layout was not well thought out Bonus Marks 2/10 There was some humour in the presentation. Group B Description of the Topic This group talks about the NHS Direct online. The presentation started with introduction to NHS direct online and how it works. The positive thing about the presentation was that actual screenshots were used from the website in order to make us understand the working of NHS direct online. It then goes on to list the advantages of NHS direct such as easy availability of medical care and the tailored customer needs. The disadvantages which are listed are that it excludes technologically challenged people and the harms associated with self diagnosis by the patient. Discussion of the Topic The presentation very nicely tells us about NHS direct services. However one aspect which was missing from the presentation was whether people actually enact the advice which is given in NHS direct. Also the feasibility of online medical advice was not studied upon. Online medical advice assumes that people will be telling the truth about their medical condition and symptoms. However this is not actually the case. Some people tend to exaggerate the symptoms and others play them down. In both these cases the medical advice given online will not only be wrong but may even lead to many complications. The human factor and how it affects online medical services is something which can be further researched upon.NHS has been notorious for its long waiting list which has led to NHS direct so that number of visits by people can be reduced. However given the danger of self diagnosis there is another alternate which can be used being practised in India. The way is to train Medical Assistants who not MBBS degree holders but are are given a 2.5 years basic course in essential medicines, treatment of minor ailments etc. This will free up the doctors to fast track the serious cases. In order to ensure that these medical assistants have a good career a definite career path in which they are allowed to become doctors after certain number of years of service should be looked at. The only problem which I see in this is the professional association of doctors trying to protect their turf. It is time to remove the artificial shortage of medical practitioners being created in UK by high fees and time consuming degrees. Efforts like NHS direct are only small aids; they do not solve the problem of our deteriorating health services which needs drastic solutions rather than cosmetic efforts like the NHS Direct. Marking and Justification Marks: Content Topic Marks Justification Research 15/20 The topic was well researched and almost all point regarding NHS direct was covered by the group. Relevance 7/10 Project brief was covered but no extraordinary points were presented. Topicality 8/10 The content was up to date. Conclusion 15/20 Conclusions were proper and covered all the points of the presentation. Marks: Presentation Topic Marks Justification Clarity 9/10 Clarity was perfect. All speakers were loud and audible. Structure 7/10 There was a meaningful sequence among the different speakers and the flow was never broken Material 8/10 The slides were well prepared and very informative Bonus Marks 2/10 Dressing sense of the group was good. References Langdon, W. and Poli, . (2002) Foundations of Genetic Programming. New York: Springer, p.201 -246. + (2012) The Rise And Fall And Rise Of Apple: A Brief History. [online] Available at: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/rise-fall-rise-apple-history/ [Accessed: 16 Mar 2013]. Chen, S. and Navet, N. (2013) Failure of Genetic Programming Induced strategies : Distinguishing between efficient markets and inefficient algorithms. [online] Available at: http://hal.inria.fr/docs/00/16/82/69/PDF/SHC_NN_Springer2007.pdf [Accessed: 16 Mar 2013]. Larson, W. (2009) Genetic Programming: A Novel Failure. [online] Available at: http://lethain.com/genetic-programming-a-novel-failure/ [Accessed: 16 Mar 2013]. Mr Ryan Connors (2012) The Rise and Fall of Apple. [online] Available at: http://www.mrryanconnors.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-apple/ [Accessed: 16 Mar 2013]. Reich, P. C., & Gelbstein, E. (2012). Law, policy, and technology: cyber terrorism, information warfare, and Internet immobilization. Hershey, PA, Information Science Reference. Read More