The Mathematics of Taste
MIT News (01/24/12) Larry Hardesty
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers used genetic programming, in which mathematical models compete with each other to fit the available data and then cross-pollinate to produce more accurate models, to analyze taste-test data. Swiss flavor company Givaudan asked researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) to help interpret the results of taste tests in which 69 subjects assessed 36 different combinations of seven basic flavors. For each subject, the researchers randomly generated a mathematical function that predicted scores according to the concentrations of different flavors. After all of the functions were assessed, the best ones were recombined to produce a new generation of functions, and the whole process was repeated about 30 times. To establish the model's accuracy, the CSAIL researchers developed another model to validate their approach. Taste preference "is a pretty brilliant area in which to apply the evolutionary methods--and it looks as though they're working, also, so that's exciting," says Hampshire College professor Lee Spector.
MIT News (01/24/12) Larry Hardesty
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers used genetic programming, in which mathematical models compete with each other to fit the available data and then cross-pollinate to produce more accurate models, to analyze taste-test data. Swiss flavor company Givaudan asked researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) to help interpret the results of taste tests in which 69 subjects assessed 36 different combinations of seven basic flavors. For each subject, the researchers randomly generated a mathematical function that predicted scores according to the concentrations of different flavors. After all of the functions were assessed, the best ones were recombined to produce a new generation of functions, and the whole process was repeated about 30 times. To establish the model's accuracy, the CSAIL researchers developed another model to validate their approach. Taste preference "is a pretty brilliant area in which to apply the evolutionary methods--and it looks as though they're working, also, so that's exciting," says Hampshire College professor Lee Spector.
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