Automatic and Semi-automatic Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is the most commonly used method for solving multi-criteria decision-making problems worldwide. Although AHP offers many advantages for problems with several alternatives and criteria, the pairwise comparisons require considerable effort. State-of-the-art methodologies have demonstrated that AHP is suitable for automating decisions on tabular data. Considering it, this paper proposes a new approach to decision-making in both automated and semi-automated ways. For the automated approach, formulas are proposed for the normalization and computation of criteria weights. For the semi-automated approach, functions are proposed to convert normalized tabular data into values on the Saaty scale. These values are then used to automatically construct pairwise comparison matrices. This approach allows decision-makers to generate such matrices when necessary, thereby minimizing or even eliminating the effort required for pairwise comparisons. Simulations demonstrate the differences obtained depending on the use of the conversion function. Comparisons with state-of-the-art methods reveal that the proposed approach is compatible with existing methodologies. The viability of the proposed methodology is also explored through problems of selecting genotypes/varieties of agricultural crops, showing its viability in real problems. The obtained results show that the proposed approach produces results similar to other decision-making methods.