Aren't genetic algorithms and machine learning distinct? I'm far from an expert, but my understanding is that with ML you're either trying to find a function (s

Aren't genetic algorithms and machine learning distinct? I'm far from an expert, but my understanding is that with ML you're either trying to find a function (supervised) or clusters (unsupervised), whereas GA are a generic optimisation technique. Maybe you could generate a bunch of different versions of an ML algo (say, ANN with different numbers of hidden nodes and starting weights), and use GA to evolve the best one. Doesn't seem like the best technique, though.