Efficiency

The modular organization of the basic agent allows it to use specialized methods. The text interpreter and generator can use methods optimized for natural language tasks, including a more suitable representation in the lexipedia. By the same token, the planner/reasoner can use methods totally independent of the language requirements. The state transition semantics were developed especially for the basic agent's intended tasks.

However, the modules can also decrease efficiency if they must operate sequentially. Although the basic agent's modules operate in parallel, there may be situations in which one module cannot proceed until another completes a computation. For instance, the planner may require text input to be processed to extract relevant information. A completely integrated agent could aim its interpretation computations toward the planner's needs, acquiring the important data more rapidly. This is clearly a complex task and would seriously complicate the basic agent's design, though it is clearly an issue for future research.


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