Does the Remote Agent software make a spacecraft computer “intelligent”?
It depends on what is meant by intelligent, but by most people s definition, the answer would be no. The remote agent software is a computer program that has the ability to solve puzzles of a particular form (about spacecraft control), but it doesn t have the ability to reason about a broad range of topics. This is an interesting question because the remote agent can (within limits) control the spacecraft in situations that its designers haven t anticipated. And unlike earlier spacecraft control programs, it has a much better model on board of how the spacecraft operates. It uses this improved model to determine the correct course of action in expected or unexpected situations.
