Designing an intelligent agent: a problem

• A population of stationary agents (As) lives in a soupy world containing nutrients in some areas, toxins in others.
• The A agents can be in one of two states: eating (E), not eating (X); they have control over which they state they are in and the speed of the eating in state E.
• The A agents' survival depends on their attention to subtle cues in the environment provided by a second kind of agent (Bs).
• B agents exhibit flashing lights; a particular color of light with a particular intensity identifies a particular clans of B; for example, a B with bright red light may belong to a different clan than a B with a dim red light or a bright yellow light.
• The B agents signal changes in the content of the environment (for example, nutrient to toxin, increase in the concentration of nutrients) through dances in which Bs of different clans move toward or away from one another or cluster in groups. Clustering of a single clan may mean something very different from clustering of different clans.
• The B clans remain constant for long periods (many generations of As), but the B dances vary more frequently and may differ in different regions.
• In pairs, based on what you know about the problem, sketch out an architecture for the A agents and a way for them to adapt to their environment. Email your thoughts to Mike by the end of the day.