Analysing the Evolvability of Neural Network Agents Through Structural Mutations

This paper investigates evolvability of artificial neural networks within an artificial life environment. Five different structural mutations are investigated, including adaptive evolution, structure duplication, and incremental changes. The total evolvability indicator, Etotal, and the evolvability function through time, are calculated in each instance, in addition to other functional attributes of the system. The results indicate that incremental modifications to networks, and incorporating an adaptive element into the evolution process itself, significantly increases neural network evolvability within open-ended artificial life simulations.