OPTIMIZING THE PROCESS NOT OUTPUT. “Note that in a learning system the object of this incremental improvement process is different from a conventional optimisation process. Whereas a simple processes of optimisation (or incremental improvement) is usually applied to a solution or output directly, a learning process optimises a model of good solutions or outputs or an indirect representation of solutions.”
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11692-015-9358-z