Welcome to the Neural Networks Research Group web site.
The group is directed by Prof. Risto Miikkulainen and is located at the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.
Neuroevolution Book Published
11/20/2025
We are excited to announce the publication of Neuroevolution: Harnessing Creativity in AI Agent Design, an MIT Press book by Sebastian Risi, Yujin Tang, David Ha, and Risto Miikkulainen. This is the first text of its kind: It reviews decades of work on building intelligent agents using population-based search, describes recent approaches for optimizing deep learning, RL, and GenAI models, and outlines future opportunities for creating AI that can discover surprising, effective solutions that often elude human designers.
The online version of the book is now freely available in an open-access HTML format at the book website (the print version will come out in 2026). The website includes numerous demos, tutorials, exercises, and class materials that illustrate neuroevolution at work, and can serve as a starting point for your own explorations in creative agent design. A short summary (with video) is given at this overview blog.