Re: similar to genetic programming
A genetical algorithm was also what I was thinking of. One could devise some kind of symbolic (textual) way to represent a wiring/circuit diagram (graph) and evolve the most efficient "learner" using mutation and cross-breeding (e-sex). The earliest GA I read about used Lisp dicing.
As far as "easiest" AI for humans to work with, "Factor Tables" may be a way:
AI tuning then becomes more like accounting instead of a lab with Doc Brown. Factor Tables are much easier to analyze, debug, and modularize than neural nets.