Although fuzzy logic controllers and expert systems have been successfully applied in many complex industrial processes, they experience a deficiency in knowledge acquisition and rely to a great extent on empirical and heuristic knowledge which, in many cases, cannot be objectively elicited. Among the problems to be resolved in fuzzy controller design are the determination of the linguistic state space, definition of the membership functions of each linguistic term and the derivation of the control rules. Some of these problems can be solved by application of machine learning. First, it is desirable to simplify and automate the specification of linguistic rules. Secondly, it is also desirable that modification of control rules is possible in order to cope with previously unknown or changes in process dynamics. Machine learning methods have, in recent years, emerged from the use of learning algorithms modelled on natural and biological systems. These methods attempt to abstract the advanced mechanisms of learning exhibited by such systems, which can, consequently, be applied to intelligent control. One of these new algorithms is the genetic algorithm which is modelled on the processes of natural evolution. The paper develops the application of genetic algorithm techniques for fuzzy controller design. Genetic algorithms are used to automate and introduce objective criteria in defining fuzzy controller parameters.