Efficient time stepping for numerical integration using reinforcement learning

Many problems in science and engineering require the efficient numerical approximation of integrals, a particularly important application being the numerical solution of initial value problems for differential equations. For complex systems, an equidistant discretization is often inadvisable, as it either results in prohibitively large errors or computational effort. To this end, adaptive schemes have been developed that rely on error estimators based on Taylor series expansions. While these estimators a) rely on strong smoothness assumptions and b) may still result in erroneous steps for complex systems (and thus require step rejection mechanisms), we here propose a data-driven time stepping scheme based on machine learning, and more specifically on reinforcement learning (RL) and meta-learning. First, one or several (in the case of non-smooth or hybrid systems) base learners are trained using RL. Then, a meta-learner is trained which (depending on the system state) selects the base learner that appears to be optimal for the current situation. Several examples including both smooth and non-smooth problems demonstrate the superior performance of our approach over state-of-the-art numerical schemes. The code is available under https://github.com/lueckem/quadrature-ML

A Prototype to Support Business Model Innovation through Crowdsourcing and Artificial Intelligence

The development of new and innovative business models is a central challenge for many companies, particularly for small and medium-sized companies. Information systems could support these companies by actively guiding them through a business model development process. However, the existing business model development tools only provide passive support for their users (e.g., digital whiteboards). Therefore, we set out to develop a prototype that actively supports its users by generating business model ideas. Informed by an existing design theory, we built a prototype relying on hybrid intelligence (i.e., the combination of human and artificial knowledge). The prototype iteratively generates new business model ideas by recombining existing knowledge, posts the ideas to a crowdsourcing platform for evaluation, and learns from the crowds’ evaluation. This demonstration paper presents the prototype, the challenges we faced during its implementation, and directions for future research on machine-supported business model development

Proceedings of the DA2PL'2016 EURO Mini Conference

International audienc