Social Spider Algorithm for Training Artificial Neural Networks

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are one of the most widely used techniques for generalization, classification, and optimization. ANNs are inspired from the human brain and perform some abilities automatically like learning new information and making new inferences. Back-propagation (BP) is the most common algorithm for training ANNs. But the processing of the BP algorithm is too slow, and it can be trapped into local optima. The meta-heuristic algorithms overcome these drawbacks and are frequently used in training ANNs. In this study, a new generation meta-heuristic, the Social Spider (SS) algorithm, is adapted for training ANNs. The performance of the algorithm is compared with conventional and meta-heuristic algorithms on classification benchmark problems in the literature. The algorithm is also applied to real-world data in order to predict the production of a factory in Kayseri and compared with some regression-based algorithms and ANNs models. The obtained results and comparisons on classification benchmark datasets have shown that the SS algorithm is a competitive algorithm for training ANNs. On the real-world production dataset, the SS algorithm has outperformed all compared algorithms. As a result of experimental studies, the SS algorithm is highly capable for training ANNs and can be used for both classification and regression.