I don't use them much myself, but genetic algorithms (and "evolutionary computation (EC)" more broadly) have become pretty big in some areas. In AI there seems

I don't use them much myself, but genetic algorithms (and "evolutionary computation (EC)" more broadly) have become pretty big in some areas. In AI there seems to be a bit of a geographical tilt, with EC being bigger in Europe and Asia than North America. And in application areas, EC seems to be bigger in areas considered "engineering" rather than "computing" (in terms of publications, IEEE-affiliated rather than ACM-affiliated venues).