Automaton

The term automaton evokes the image of a mechanical toy or a soulless organism like a golem, but in computer science it has a very precise meaning. It refers to all machines whose output behaviour is not a direct consequence of the current input, but of some past history of its inputs. They are characterised as having an internal state which is a repository of this past experience. The inner state of an automaton is private to the automaton, and is not available to an external observer.

from http://www.brunel.ac.uk/depts/AI/alife/al-autom.htm

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	Copyright © 1995-2008 by D. J. Power (see his home page). DSSResources.COM^sm is maintained by Alexander P. Power and Daniel J. Power of PowerEnterprises.net. Please contact them at webmaster@dssresources.com with questions. See disclaimer and privacy statement. This page was last modified . DSSResources.com is an affiliate of the Business Intelligence Network