Rational agent

A rational agent takes actions which, given his or her knowledge of its environment, maximizes its chances of success.

The action a rational agent takes depends on:
 * the agent's past experiences
 * the agent's information of its environment
 * the actions, duties and obligations available to the agent
 * the estimated benefits and the chances of success of the actions.

Rational agents are researched in ethics, the study of practical reason, and artificial intelligence.

In game theory it is usually assumed that the actors are rational.

An example of rational agents is BDI software agents.

Economics

 * homo economicus
 * agent (economics)
 * bounded rationality
 * game theory

Software

 * software agent
 * intelligent agent
 * belief revision