Artificial Intelligence - UNIT - 1 Topic 5 : The Concept of Rationality

 

Part A: Understanding Rationality in Artificial Intelligence

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1. Introduction

In Artificial Intelligence, the goal of designing intelligent agents is to make them act rationally. Rationality means making the right decisions to achieve a goal based on available information and reasoning.

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2. What is Rationality?

Rationality is the ability of an agent to make the best possible decision based on its knowledge and the expected outcomes.

It does not always mean perfection; instead, it means doing the right thing given what the agent knows.

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3. Characteristics of a Rational Agent

A rational agent chooses an action that is expected to maximize its performance measure.

A rational agent should:

• Perceive its environment correctly
• Think logically
• Choose the most effective action
• Adapt based on experience

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4. Difference Between Rational and Intelligent Agents

Feature	Rational Agent	Intelligent Agent
Focus	Acts to achieve best outcome	Tries to behave like humans
Decision-making	Based on logic and expected success	Based on learning, reasoning, and emotions
Example	Chess AI always chooses the best move	Human-like chatbot mimics human conversation

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5. Rationality Depends On…

Rationality is context-dependent. It depends on:

Factor	Explanation
Performance Measure	The goal to achieve (e.g., winning a game, cleaning a room)
Percept Sequence	History of what the agent has observed
Knowledge of the Environment	What the agent knows about the world
Available Actions	What the agent can do in the current state

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6. Example of Rational Agent

Example: Self-Driving Car

• Goal: Drive safely to the destination
• Rational Behavior:
• Stops at red lights
• Avoids accidents
• Chooses shortest and safest route
• Follows speed limits

Even if the car reaches late due to traffic, it's still rational because it did the best possible actions based on available data.

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7. Rationality ≠ Omniscience

An agent is not expected to know everything. Rational agents make the best choice with the information they have.

An agent may make a mistake and still be rational if it made the decision based on correct logic and current knowledge.

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8. Rational vs. Irrational Example

Situation	Rational Agent Action	Irrational Agent Action
Vacuum cleaner in a dirty room	Starts cleaning the floor	Starts spinning randomly
Self-driving car at red light	Stops and waits	Speeds through without stopping
Delivery robot during rain	Takes covered path to avoid damage	Takes shortest path through rain

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    Summary

• Rationality in AI means choosing the best action to achieve a goal based on logic and knowledge.
• A rational agent is not perfect but makes reasonable decisions based on available information.
• Rational behavior is influenced by the goal, perception history, environment knowledge, and possible actions.
• AI systems must be designed to act rationally to function effectively in real-world scenarios.