Unit-1

An agent can be anything that perceive its environment through sensors and act upon
that environment through actuators. An Agent runs in the cycle
of perceiving, thinking, and acting. An agent can be:
o Human-Agent: A human agent has eyes, ears, and other organs which work
for sensors and hand, legs, vocal tract work for actuators.
o Robotic Agent: A robotic agent can have cameras, infrared range finder, NLP
for sensors and various motors for actuators.
o Software Agent: Software agent can have keystrokes, file contents as sensory
input and act on those inputs and display output on the screen.

Sensor: Sensor is a device which detects the change in the environment and sends the
information to other electronic devices. An agent observes its environment through
sensors.

Actuators: Actuators are the component of machines that converts energy into
motion. The actuators are only responsible for moving and controlling a system. An
actuator can be an electric motor, gears, rails, etc.

Effectors: Effectors are the devices which affect the environment. Effectors can be
legs, wheels, arms, fingers, wings, fins, and display screen.

Intelligent Agents:
An intelligent agent is an autonomous entity which act upon an environment using
sensors and actuators for achieving goals. An intelligent agent may learn from the
environment to achieve their goals. A thermostat is an example of an intelligent agent.

Following are the main four rules for an AI agent:

 o Rule 1: An AI agent must have the ability to perceive the environment.
o Rule 2: The observation must be used to make decisions.
o Rule 3: Decision should result in an action.
o Rule 4: The action taken by an AI agent must be a rational action.

Rational Agent:
A rational agent is an agent which has clear preference, models uncertainty, and acts
in a way to maximize its performance measure with all possible actions.

Rationality:
The rationality of an agent is measured by its performance measure. Rationality can be
judged on the basis of following points:
o Performance measure which defines the success criterion.
o Agent prior knowledge of its environment.
o Best possible actions that an agent can perform.
o The sequence of percepts.

Structure of an AI Agent

The task of AI is to design an agent program which implements the agent function.
The structure of an intelligent agent is a combination of architecture and agent
program. It can be viewed as:

1. Agent = Architecture + Agent program

Following are the main three terms involved in the structure of an AI agent:

Architecture: Architecture is machinery that an AI agent executes on.

Agent Function: Agent function is used to map a percept to an action.

PEAS Representation

PEAS is a type of model on which an AI agent works upon. When we define an AI

agent or rational agent, then we can group its properties under PEAS representation
model. It is made up of four words:

o P: Performance measure
o E: Environment
o A: Actuators
o S: Sensors
Types of AI Agents
o Simple Reflex Agent
o Model-based reflex agent
o Goal-based agents
o Utility-based agent
o Learning agent

1. Simple Reflex agent:

o The Simple reflex agents are the simplest agents. These agents take decisions
on the basis of the current percepts and ignore the rest of the percept history.
o These agents only succeed in the fully observable environment.
o The Simple reflex agent does not consider any part of percepts history during
their decision and action process.
o The Simple reflex agent works on Condition-action rule, which means it maps
the current state to action. Such as a Room Cleaner agent, it works only if there
is dirt in the room.
o Problems for the simple reflex agent design approach:
o They have very limited intelligence
o They do not have knowledge of non-perceptual parts of the current state
o Mostly too big to generate and to store.
o Not adaptive to changes in the environment.
2. Model-based reflex agent

o The Model-based agent can work in a partially observable environment, and

track the situation.
o A model-based agent has two important factors:
o Model: It is knowledge about "how things happen in the world," so it is
called a Model-based agent.
o Internal State: It is a representation of the current state based on
percept history.
o These agents have the model, "which is knowledge of the world" and based on
the model they perform actions.
o Updating the agent state requires information about:

a. How the world evolves

a. How the agent's action affects the world.

3. Goal-based agents

o The knowledge of the current state environment is not always sufficient to

decide for an agent to what to do.
o The agent needs to know its goal which describes desirable situations.
o Goal-based agents expand the capabilities of the model-based agent by having
the "goal" information.
o They choose an action, so that they can achieve the goal.
 o These agents may have to consider a long sequence of possible actions before
deciding whether the goal is achieved or not. Such considerations of different
scenario are called searching and planning, which makes an agent proactive.

4. Utility-based agents

o These agents are similar to the goal-based agent but provide an extra
component of utility measurement which makes them different by providing a
measure of success at a given state.
o Utility-based agent act based not only goals but also the best way to achieve the
goal.
o The Utility-based agent is useful when there are multiple possible alternatives,
and an agent has to choose in order to perform the best action.
o The utility function maps each state to a real number to check how efficiently
each action achieves the goals.
5. Learning Agents

o A learning agent in AI is the type of agent which can learn from its past
experiences, or it has learning capabilities.
o It starts to act with basic knowledge and then able to act and adapt
automatically through learning.
o A learning agent has mainly four conceptual components, which are:

a. Learning element: It is responsible for making improvements by

learning from environment
a. Critic: Learning element takes feedback from critic which describes that
how well the agent is doing with respect to a fixed performance
standard.
b. Performance element: It is responsible for selecting external action
c. Problem generator: This component is responsible for suggesting
actions that will lead to new and informative experiences.
o Hence, learning agents are able to learn, analyze performance, and look for
new ways to improve the performance.
 Problem Solving Techniques in AI
The process of problem-solving is frequently used to achieve objectives or resolve
particular situations. In computer science, the term "problem-solving" refers to
artificial intelligence methods, which may include formulating ensuring appropriate,
using algorithms, and conducting root-cause analyses that identify reasonable
solutions. Artificial intelligence (AI) problem-solving often involves investigating
potential solutions to problems through reasoning techniques, making use of
polynomial and differential equations, and carrying them out and use modelling
frameworks. A same issue has a number of solutions, that are all accomplished using
an unique algorithm. Additionally, certain issues have original remedies. Everything
depends on how the particular situation is framed.

Approaches for Resolving Problems

The effective approaches of artificial intelligence make it useful for resolving

complicated issues. All fundamental problem-solving methods used throughout AI
were listed below. In accordance with the criteria set, students may learn information
regarding different problem-solving methods.

Heuristics

The heuristic approach focuses solely upon experimentation as well as test procedures
to comprehend a problem and create a solution. These heuristics don't always offer
better ideal answer to something like a particular issue, though. Such, however,
unquestionably provide effective means of achieving short-term objectives.
Consequently, if conventional techniques are unable to solve the issue effectively,
developers turn to them. Heuristics are employed in conjunction with optimization
algorithms to increase the efficiency because they merely offer moment alternatives
while compromising precision.
Searching Algorithms

Several of the fundamental ways that AI solves every challenge is through searching.
These searching algorithms are used by rational agents or problem-solving agents for
select the most appropriate answers. Intelligent entities use molecular representations
and seem to be frequently main objective when finding solutions. Depending upon
that calibre of the solutions they produce, most searching algorithms also have
attributes of completeness, optimality, time complexity, and high computational.

Computing Evolutionary

This approach to issue makes use of the well-established evolutionary idea. The idea
of "survival of the fittest underlies the evolutionary theory. According to this, when a
creature successfully reproduces in a tough or changing environment, these coping
mechanisms are eventually passed down to the later generations, leading to something
like a variety of new young species. By combining several traits that go along with
that severe environment, these mutated animals aren't just clones of something like the
old ones. The much more notable example as to how development is changed and
expanded is humanity, which have done so as a consequence of the accumulation of
advantageous mutations over countless generations.

Genetic Algorithms

Genetic algorithms have been proposed upon that evolutionary theory. These
programs employ a technique called direct random search. In order to combine the
two healthiest possibilities and produce a desirable offspring, the developers calculate
the fit factor. Overall health of each individual is determined by first gathering
demographic information and afterwards assessing each individual. According on how
well each member matches that intended need, a calculation is made. Next, its creators
employ a variety of methodologies to retain their finest participants.

1. Rank Selection
2. Tournament Selection
3. Steady Selection
4. Roulette Wheel Selection (Fitness Proportionate Selection)
5. Elitism