Artificial Intelligence-Informed Search Strategies

Greedy best-first search, A*search, Heuristic functions.

ML:Introduction to Machine Learning , Understanding Data
Textbook 1: Chapter 3 - 3.5, 3.5.1, 3.5.2, 3.6
Textbook 2: Chapter 1 and 2 -S. Sridhar, M Vijayalakshmi “Machine Learning”. Oxford ,2021

Informed Search Informed search algorithms in AI use domain expertise. Problem information is
accessible in an informed search, which can guide the search. As a result, informed search strategies
are more likely to discover a solution than uninformed ones.

The informed search algorithm is more useful for large search space. Informed search algorithm
uses the idea of heuristic, so it is also called Heuristic search.

Heuristic search is another name for informed search. A heuristic is a method that, while not always
guaranteed to find the best solution, is guaranteed to find a decent solution in a reasonable amount
of time. An informed search can answer many complex problems that would be impossible to
handle otherwise.

Heuristic is a technique which makes our search algorithm more efficient. Some heuristics help to
guide a search process without sacrificing any claim to completeness and some sacrificing it.
Heuristic is a problem specific knowledge that decreases expected search efforts. It is a technique
which sometimes works but not always. Heuristic search algorithm uses information about the
problem to help directing the path through the search space.
These searches uses some functions that estimate the cost from the current state to the goal
presuming that such function is efficient. A heuristic function is a function that maps from problem
state descriptions to measure of desirability usually represented as number.
The purpose of heuristic function is to guide the search process in the most profitable directions by
suggesting which path to follow first when more than is available. Generally heuristic incorporates
domain knowledge to improve efficiency over blind search.
In AI heuristic has a general meaning and also a more specialized technical meaning. Generally a
term heuristic is used for any advice that is effective but is not guaranteed to work in every case.
For example in case of travelling sales man (TSP) problem we are using a heuristic to calculate the
nearest neighbour. Heuristic is a method that provides a better guess about the correct choice to
make at any junction that would be achieved by random guessing.
This technique is useful in solving though problems which could not be solved in any other way.
Solutions take an infinite time to compute.
Heuristics function: Heuristic is a function which is used in Informed Search, and it finds the most
promising path. It takes the current state of the agent as its input and produces the estimation of how
close agent is from the goal. The heuristic method, however, might not always give the best solution,
but it guaranteed to find a good solution in reasonable time. Heuristic function estimates how close
a state is to the goal. It is represented by h(n), and it calculates the cost of an optimal path between
the pair of states. The value of the heuristic function is always positive.

Admissibility of the heuristic function is given as:

1. h(n) <=h*(n)
Here h(n) is heuristic cost, and h*(n) is the estimated cost. Hence heuristic cost should be less
than or equal to the estimated cost.
Pure Heuristic Search:
Pure heuristic search is the simplest form of heuristic search algorithms. It expands nodes based on
their heuristic value h(n). It maintains two lists, OPEN and CLOSED list. In the CLOSED list, it
places those nodes which have already expanded and in the OPEN list, it places nodes which have
yet not been expanded.
On each iteration, each node n with the lowest heuristic value is expanded and generates all its
successors and n is placed to the closed list. The algorithm continues unit a goal state is found.
In the informed search we will discuss two main algorithms which are given below:
 Best First Search Algorithm(Greedy search)
 A* Search Algorithm
1.) Best-first Search Algorithm (Greedy Search):
Greedy best-first search algorithm always selects the path which appears best at that moment. It is
the combination of depth-first search and breadth-first search algorithms. It uses the heuristic
function and search. Best-first search allows us to take the advantages of both algorithms. With the
help of best-first search, at each step, we can choose the most promising node. In the best first
search algorithm, we expand the node which is closest to the goal node and the closest cost is
estimated by heuristic function, i.e.
1. f(n) = g(n). Were, h(n)= estimated cost from node n to the goal.
The greedy best first algorithm is implemented by the priority queue.
Best first search algorithm:
 Step 1: Place the starting node into the OPEN list.
 Step 2: If the OPEN list is empty, Stop and return failure.
 Step 3: Remove the node n, from the OPEN list which has the lowest value of h(n), and
places it in the CLOSED list.
  Step 4: Expand the node n, and generate the successors of node n.
 Step 5: Check each successor of node n, and find whether any node is a goal node or not. If
any successor node is goal node, then return success and terminate the search, else proceed
to Step 6.
 Step 6: For each successor node, algorithm checks for evaluation function f(n), and then
check if the node has been in either OPEN or CLOSED list. If the node has not been in both
list, then add it to the OPEN list.
 Step 7: Return to Step 2.

Advantages
Best first search can switch between BFS and DFS by gaining the advantages of
both the algos.
This algorithm is more efficient than BFS and DFS algorithms.
Disadvantages:
 It can behave as an unguided depth-first search in the worst case scenario.
 It can get stuck in a loop as DFS.
 This algorithm is not optimal.

Example:

Consider the below search problem, and we will traverse it using greedy best-first search. At each
iteration, each node is expanded using evaluation function f(n)=h(n) , which is given in the below
table.
Greedy Search - The closest node to the target node is expanded in greedy search algo-rithms in
AI. A heuristic function, h, determines the closeness factor (x). h(x) is a distance estimate between
one node and the end or target node. The closer the node is to the endpoint, the smaller the h(x)
value. When the greedy search looks for the best route to the target node, it will select nodes with
the lowest possible values. This algorithm is implemented through the priority queue. It is not an
optimal algorithm. It can get stuck in loops.

For example, imagine a simple game where the goal is to reach a specific location on a board. The
player can move in any direction but walls are blocking some paths. In a greedy search approach,
the player would always choose the direction that brings them closer to the goal, without
considering the potential obstacles or the fact that some paths may lead to dead ends.

If the chosen path leads to a dead end or a loop, the algorithm will keep moving back and forth
between the same nodes, without ever exploring other options. This can result in an infinite loop

where the algorithm keeps repeating the same steps and fails to find a solution.

A* Search - A* Tree Search, known as A* Search, combines the strengths of uniform-cost search
and greedy search. To find the best path from the starting state to the desired state, the A* search
algorithm investigates all potential paths in a graph or grid. The algorithm calculates the cost of
each potential move at each stage using the following two criteria:
 How much it costs to reach the present node ?
 The approximate cost from the present node to the goal.
Heuristic search
Heuristic:
- It is a "rule of thumb" used to help guide search
-It is a technique that improves the efficiency of search process, possibly by sacrificing claims of
completeness.
- It is involving or serving as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem-solving by xperimental and
especially trial-and-error methods.
Heuristic Function:
-It is a function applied to a state in a search space to indicate a likelihood of success if that state is
selected
-It is a function that maps from problem state descriptions to measures of desirability usually
represented by numbers
– Heuristic function is problem specific.
A heuristic function is used to determine the estimated cost and estimate the distance between the
current node and the desired state. The acceptable nature of this heuristic function ensures that it
never over estimates the actual cost of achieving the goal.

The path with the lowest overall cost is chosen after an A* search examines each potential route
based on the sum of the actual cost and the estimated cost (i.e., the cost so far and the estimated
cost-to-go). By doing this, the algorithm is guaranteed to always investigate the most promising
path first, which is most likely to lead to the desired state.
Conclusion
 Search algorithms in AI are algorithms that aid in the resolution of search issues. A search
issue comprises the search space, start, and goal state.
 These algorithms are essential because they aid in solving AI problems and support other
systems, such as neural networks and manufacturing systems.
 Search algorithms in artificial intelligence define the problem (initial state, target state, state
space, space cost, etc.) and then perform search operations to find the best solution to the
given problem.
 Search algorithms in artificial intelligence are classified into two types: informed algorithms
and uninformed algorithms. Breadth-first, depth-first, and uniform-cost algorithms are
examples of informed algorithms. Greedy, A* tree and A* graph algorithms are examples of
uninformed algorithms.
 Vehicle routing, nurse scheduling, record retrieval, and industrial processes are some of AI's
most common uses of search algorithms.

Greedy Best-First Search

Greedy best-first search is an informed search algorithm where the evaluation function is strictly
equal to the heuristic function, disregarding the edge weights in a weighted graph. To get from a
start node to a target node, the lowest value resulting from some heuristic function, h(x), is
considered as the successive node to traverse to. The goal is to choose the quickest and shortest path
to the target node.
Evaluation Function
The evaluation function, f(x), for the greedy best-first search algorithm is the following:
f(x) = h(x)
Here, the evaluation function is equal to the heuristic function. Since this search disregards edge
weights, finding the lowest-cost path is not guaranteed.
Heuristic Function
A heuristic function, h(x), evaluates the successive node based on how close it is to the target node.
In other words, it chooses the immediate low-cost option. As this is the case, however, it does not
necessarily find the shortest path to the goal.
Suppose a bot is trying to move from point A to point B. In greedy best-first search, the bot will
choose to move to the position that brings it closest to the goal, disregarding if another position
ultimately yields a shorter distance. In the case that there is an obstruction, it will evaluate the
previous nodes with the shortest distance to the goal, and continuously choose the node that is
closest to the goal.
The Algorithm
1. Initialize a tree with the root node being the start node in the open list.
2. If the open list is empty, return a failure, otherwise, add the current node to the closed list.
3. Remove the node with the lowest h(x) value from the open list for exploration.
4. If a child node is the target, return a success. Otherwise, if the node has not been in either the
open or closed list, add it to the open list for exploration.
Example
Consider finding the path from P to S in the following graph:

In this example, the cost is measured strictly using the heuristic value. In other words, how close it
is to the target.
 C has the lowest
cost of 6. Therefore, the search will continue like so
U has the lowest cost compared to M and R, so the search will continue by exploring U. Finally, S
has a heuristic value of 0 since that is the target node:

The total cost for the path (P -> C -> U -> S) evaluates to 11. The potential problem with a greedy
best-first search is revealed by the path (P -> R -> E -> S) having a cost of 10, which is lower than
(P -> C -> U -> S). Greedy best-first search ignored this path because it does not consider the edge
weights.
Algorithm
The Greedy Best-First Search algorithm aims to find the path from a given start node to a goal node
in a graph. Here are the general steps of the algorithm −
 Initialize an empty priority queue.
 Enqueue the start node into the priority queue.
 Create an empty set to track visited nodes.
 While the priority queue is not empty − Dequeue the highest-priority node from the queue.
 If the dequeued node is the goal node, the algorithm terminates, and the path is found.
Otherwise, mark the dequeued node as visited.
 Enqueue all unvisited neighboring nodes of the dequeued node into the priority queue.
 If the priority queue becomes empty before reaching the goal node, no path exists. calling
the greedyBestFirstSearch function.
Example:
Consider the below search problem, and we will traverse it using greedy best-first search. At each
iteration, each node is expanded using evaluation function f(n)=h(n) , which is given in the below
table.
Let us see how this works for route-finding problems in Romania; we use the straight line distance
heuristic, which we will call hSLD . If the goal is Bucharest, we need to know the straight line
distances to Bucharest, which are shown in Figure.

Cities in Distance from city Cities in Distance from city n to

Romania(n) Romania(n)
n to Bucharest Bucharest
Arad 366 Mehadia 241
Bucharest 0 Neamt 234
Craiova 160 Oradea 380
Drobeta 242 Pitesti 100
Eforie 161 Rimnicu Vilcea 193
Fagaras 176 Sibiu 253
Giurgiu 77 Timisoara 329
Hirsova 151 Urziceni 80
Iasi 226 Vaslui 199
Lugoj 244 Zerind 374
For example, hSLD (In(Arad )) = 366. Notice that the values of hSLD cannot be computed from the
problem description itself. Moreover, it takes a certain amount of experience to know that hSLD is
correlated with actual road distances and is, therefore, a useful heuristic.
Figure 3.23(Text Book-1) shows the progress of a greedy best-first search using hSLD to find a path
from Arad to Bucharest.
The first node to be expanded from Arad will be Sibiu because it is closer to Bucharest than either
Zerind or Timisoara.
The next node to be expanded will be Fagaras because it is closest. Fagaras in turn generates
Bucharest, which is the goal.
For this particular problem, greedy best-first search using hSLD finds a solution without ever
expanding a node that is not on the solution path; hence, its search cost is minimal. It is not optimal,
however: the path via Sibiu and Fagaras to Bucharest is 32 kilometers longer than the path through
Rimnicu Vilcea and Pitesti. This shows why the algorithm is called “greedy”at each step it tries to
get as close to the goal as it can.
Greedy best-first tree search is also incomplete even in a finite state space, much like depth-first
search. Consider the problem of getting from Iasi to Fagaras. The heuristic suggests that Neamt be
expanded first because it is closest to Fagaras, but it is a dead end.
The solution is to go first to Vaslu a step that is actually farther from the goal according to the
heuristic and then to continue to Urziceni, Bucharest, and Fagaras. The algorithm will never find
this solution, however, because expanding Neamt puts Iasi back into the frontier, Iasi is closer to
Fagaras than Vaslui is, and so Iasi will be expanded again, leading to an infinite loop.

In this search example, we are using two lists which are OPEN and CLOSED Lists. Following are
the iteration for traversing the above example.

Expand the nodes of S and put in the CLOSED list

Initialization: Open [A, B], Closed [S]
Iteration 1: Open [A], Closed [S, B]
Iteration 2: Open [E, F, A], Closed [S, B]
: Open [E, A], Closed [S, B, F]
Iteration 3: Open [I, G, E, A], Closed [S, B, F]
: Open [I, E, A], Closed [S, B, F, G]
Hence the final solution path will be: S----> B----->F----> G

Time Complexity: The worst case time complexity of Greedy best first search is O(bm).

Space Complexity: The worst case space complexity of Greedy best first search is O(bm). Where,
m is the maximum depth of the search space.
Complete: Greedy best-first search is also incomplete, even if the given state space is finite.
Optimal: Greedy best first search algorithm is not optimal.
Greedy best first search
Concept:
Step 1: Traverse the root node
Step 2: Traverse any neighbor of the root node, that is maintaining a least distance from the
root node and insert them in ascending order into the queue.
Step 3: Traverse any neighbor of neighbor of the root node, that is maintaining a least
distance fromthe root node and insert them in ascending order into the queue
Step 4: This process will continue until we are getting the goal node
Algorithm:
Step 1: Place the starting node or root node into the queue.
Step 2: If the queue is empty, then stop and return failure.
Step 3: If the first element of the queue is our goal node, then stop and return success.
Step 4: Else, remove the first element from the queue. Expand it and compute the estimated
goal distancefor each child. Place the children in the queue in ascending order to the goal
distance. Step 5: Go to step-3
Implementation:
Step 1: Consider the node A as our root node. So the first element of the queue is A which is not our
goal node, so remove it from the queue and find its neighbor that are to inserted in ascending order.
A
Step 2: The neighbors of A are B and C. They will be inserted into the queue in ascending order.
BCA
Step 3: Now B is on the FRONT end of the queue. So calculate the neighbours of B that are
maintaining a least distance from the roof.
FEDCB
Step 4:Now the node F is on the FRONT end of the queue. But as it has no further children, so
remove it from the queue and proceed further.
EDCB
Step 5:Now E is the FRONT end. So the children of E are J and K. Insert them into the queue in
ascending order.
KJDCE
Step 6:Now K is on the FRONT end and as it has no further children, so remove it and proceed
further
JDCK
Step7:Also, J has no corresponding children. So remove it and proceed further.
DCJ
Step 8:Now D is on the FRONT end and calculates the children of D and put it into the queue.
ICD
Step9:Now I is the FRONT node and it has no children. So proceed further after removing this node
from the queue.
CI
Step 10:Now C is the FRONT node .So calculate the neighbours of C that are to be inserted in
ascending order into the queue.
GHC
Step 11:Now remove G from the queue and calculate its neighbour that is to insert in ascending
order into the queue.
MLHG
Step12:Now M is the FRONT node of the queue which is our goal node. So stop here and exit.
LHM
Advantage:
It is more efficient than that of BFS and DFS.
Time complexity of Best first search is much less than Breadth first search.
The Best first search allows us to switch between paths by gaining the benefits of both breadth
first and depth first search. Because, depth first is good because a solution can be found without
computing all nodes and Breadth first search is good because it does not get trapped in dead ends.
Disadvantages:
Sometimes, it covers more distance than our consideration.

2.) A* Search Algorithm:

A* search is the most commonly known form of best-first search. It uses heuristic function h(n),
and cost to reach the node n from the start state g(n). It has combined features of UCS and greedy
best-first search, by which it solve the problem efficiently. A* search algorithm finds the shortest
path through the search space using the heuristic function. This search algorithm expands less
search tree and provides optimal result faster. A* algorithm is similar to UCS except that it uses
g(n)+h(n) instead of g(n).
In A* search algorithm, we use search heuristic as well as the cost to reach the node. It evaluates
nodes by combining g(n), the cost to reach the node, and h(n), the cost to get from the node to the
goal:

At each point in the search space, only those node is expanded which have the lowest value of f(n),
and the algorithm terminates when the goal node is found.

Algorithm of A* search:

Step1: Place the starting node in the OPEN list.

Step 2: Check if the OPEN list is empty or not, if the list is empty then return failure and stops.
Step 3: Select the node from the OPEN list which has the smallest value of evaluation function
(g+h), if node n is goal node then return success and stop, otherwise
Step 4: Expand node n and generate all of its successors, and put n into the closed list. For each
successor n', check whether n' is already in the OPEN or CLOSED list, if not then compute
evaluation function for n' and place into Open list.
Step 5: Else if node n' is already in OPEN and CLOSED, then it should be attached to the back
pointer which reflects the lowest g(n') value.
Step 6: Return to Step 2.
Advantages:
 A* search algorithm is the best algorithm than other search algorithms.
 A* search algorithm is optimal and complete.
 This algorithm can solve very complex problems.
Disadvantages:
 It does not always produce the shortest path as it mostly based on heuristics and
approximation.
 A* search algorithm has some complexity issues.
 The main drawback of A* is memory requirement as it keeps all generated nodes in the
memory, so it is not practical for various large-scale problems.
Conditions for optimality: Admissibility and consistency
The first condition we require for optimality is that h(n) be an admissible heuristic. An admissible
heuristic is one that never overestimates the cost to reach the goal. Because g(n) is the actual cost to
reach n along the current path, and f(n) = g(n) + h(n), we have as an immediate consequence that
f(n) never overestimates the true cost of a solution along the current path through n.
Admissible heuristics are by nature optimistic because they think the cost of solving the
problem is less than it actually is. An obvious example of an admissible heuristic is the straight-line
distance h SLD that we used in getting to Bucharest. Straight-line distance is admissible because the
shortest path between any two points is a straight line, so the straight line can’t be an overestimate.
InFigure 3.24, we show the progress of an A ∗ tree search for Bucharest. The values of g are
computed from the step costs in Figure 3.2, and the values of h SLD are given in Figure 3.22. Notice
in particular that Bucharest first appears on the frontier at step (e), but it is not selected for
expansion because its f -cost (450) is higher than that of Pitesti (417). Another way to say this is that
there might be a solution through Pitesti whose cost is as low as 417, so the algorithm will not settle
for a solution that costs 450.
A second, slightly stronger condition called consistency (or sometimes monotonicity)is required
only for applications of A ∗ to graph search. A heuristic h(n) is consistent if, for every node n and
every successor n 1 of n generated by any action a, the estimated cost of reaching the goal from n is
no greater than the step cost of getting to n1 plus the estimated cost of reaching the goal from
n1 : h(n) ≤ c(n, a, n 1 + h(n 1 ) .
This is a form of the general triangle inequality, which stipulates that each side of a triangle cannot
be longer than the sum of the other two sides. Here, the triangle is formed by n, n 1 , and the goal G
n closest to n. For an admissible heuristic, the inequality makes perfect sense: if there were a route
from n to G n via n 1 that was cheaper than h(n), that would violate the property that h(n) is a lower
bound on the cost to reach G n .
Example:
In this example, we will traverse the given graph using the A* algorithm. The heuristic value of all
states is given in the below table so we will calculate the f(n) of each state using the formula
f(n)= g(n) + h(n), where g(n) is the cost to reach any node from start state.
Here we will use OPEN and CLOSED list.

Solution:
Initialization: {(S, 5)}
Iteration1: {(S--> A, 4), (S-->G, 10)}
Iteration2: {(S--> A-->C, 4), (S--> A-->B, 7), (S-->G, 10)}
Iteration3: {(S--> A-->C--->G, 6), (S--> A-->C--->D, 11), (S--> A-->B, 7), (S-->G, 10)}
Iteration4: will give the final result, as S--->A--->C--->G it provides the optimal path with cost 6.

Points to remember:
A* algorithm returns the path which occurred first, and it does not search for all remaining paths.
The efficiency of A* algorithm depends on the quality of heuristic.
A* algorithm expands all nodes which satisfy the condition f(n)
Complete: A* algorithm is complete as long as: Branching factor is finite. Cost at every action is
fixed.
Optimal: A* search algorithm is optimal if it follows below two conditions:
Admissible: the first condition requires for optimality is that h(n) should be an admissible heuristic
for A* tree search. An admissible heuristic is optimistic in nature.
Consistency: Second required condition is consistency for only A* graph-search.
If the heuristic function is admissible, then A* tree search will always find the least cost path.
Time Complexity: The time complexity of A* search algorithm depends on heuristic function, and
the number of nodes expanded is exponential to the depth of solution d. So the time complexity is
O(b^d), where b is the branching factor.
Space Complexity: The space complexity of A* search algorithm is O(b^d)
Heuristic Search
A heuristic is a technique that is used to solve a problem faster than the classic methods. These
techniques are used to find the approximate solution of a problem when classical methods do not.
Heuristics are said to be the problem-solving techniques that result in practical and quick solutions.
Heuristics are strategies that are derived from past experience with similar problems. Heuristics use
practical methods and shortcuts used to produce the solutions that may or may not be optimal, but
those solutions are sufficient in a given limited timeframe.
History of heuristics
Psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky have developed the study of Heuristics in
human decision-making in the 1970s and 1980s. However, this concept was first introduced by the
Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon, whose primary object of research was problem-solving.
Why do we need heuristics?
Heuristics are used in situations in which there is the requirement of a short-term solution. On
facing complex situations with limited resources and time, Heuristics can help the companies to
make quick decisions by shortcuts and approximated calculations. Most of the heuristic methods
involve mental shortcuts to make decisions on past experiences.

The heuristic method might not always provide us the finest solution, but it is assured that it helps
us find a good solution in a reasonable time.Based on context, there can be different heuristic
methods that correlate with the problem's scope. The most common heuristic methods are -trial and
error, guesswork, the process of elimination, historical data analysis. These methods involve simply
available information that is not particular to the problem but is most appropriate. They can include
representative, affect, and availability heuristics. Each heuristic type plays a role in decision-
making.
Availability heuristic
Availability heuristic is said to be the judgment that people make regarding the likelihood of an
event based on information that quickly comes into mind. On making decisions, people typically
rely on the past knowledge or experience of an event. It allows a person to judge a situation based
on the examples of similar situations that come to mind.
Representative heuristic
It occurs when we evaluate an event's probability on the basis of its similarity with another event.
Example: We can understand the representative heuristic by the example of product packaging, as
consumers tend to associate the products quality with the external packaging of a product. If a
company packages its products that remind you of a high quality and well-known product, then
consumers will relate that product as having the same quality as the branded product.
So, instead of evaluating the product based on its quality, customers correlate the products quality
based on the similarity in packaging.
Affect heuristic
It is based on the negative and positive feelings that are linked with a certain stimulus. It includes
quick feelings that are based on past beliefs. Its theory is one's emotional response to a stimulus that
can affect the decisions taken by an individual.
When people take a little time to evaluate a situation carefully, they might base their decisions
based on their emotional response.
Example: The affect heuristic can be understood by the example of advertisements. Advertisements
can influence the emotions of consumers, so it affects the purchasing decision of a consumer. The
most common examples of advertisements are the ads of fast food. When fast-food companies run
the advertisement, they hope to obtain a positive emotional response that pushes you to positively
view their products.
If someone carefully analyzes the benefits and risks of consuming fast food, they might decide that
fast food is unhealthy. But people rarely take time to evaluate everything they see and generally
make decisions based on their automatic emotional response. So, Fast food companies present
advertisements that rely on such type of Affect heuristic for generating a positive emotional
response which results in sales.
Examples of heuristics in everyday life
Some of the real-life examples of heuristics that people use as a way to solve a problem:
Common sense: It is a heuristic that is used to solve a problem based on the observation of an individual.
  Rule of thumb: In heuristics, we also use a term rule of thumb. This heuristic allows an
individual to make an approximation without doing an exhaustive search.
 Working backward: It lets an individual solve a problem by assuming that the problem is
already being solved by them and working backward in their minds to see how much a
solution has been reached.
 Availability heuristic: It allows a person to judge a situation based on the examples of
similar situations that come to mind.
 Familiarity heuristic: It allows a person to approach a problem on the fact that an
individual is familiar with the same situation, so one should act similarly as he/she acted in
the same situation before.
 Educated guess: It allows a person to reach a conclusion without doing an exhaustive
search. Using it, a person considers what they have observed in the past and applies that
history to the situation where there is not any definite answer has decided yet.

Limitation of heuristics
Along with the benefits, heuristic also has some limitations.
 Although heuristics speed up our decision-making process and also help us to solve
problems, they can also introduce errors just because something has worked accurately in
the past, so it does not mean that it will work again.
 It will hard to find alternative solutions or ideas if we always rely on the existing solutions
or heuristics.
Conclusion
That's all about the article. Hence, in this article, we have discussed the heuristic techniques that are
the problem-solving techniques that result in a quick and practical solution. We have also discussed
some algorithms and examples, as well as the limitation of heuristics.