Genetic Algorithms

Also known as evolutionary or biological algorithms. They are a form of AI that is inspired by biological evolution of organisms. They are designed in a way that allows them to find a sub- optimal solution to a problem (not the best solution, but one that is good enough) in a relatively short amount of time compared to some other methods. They work by creating a random population of solutions and comparing their effectiveness against each other. Good solutions are kept, bad ones are discarded and new random ones are introduced to the system to replace the discarded ones. This process is repeated for a number of times until a solution that is good enough is found.