Some agents can be assigned an explicit "goal function"; an agent is considered more intelligent if it consistently takes actions that successfully maximize its programmed goal function. The "goal function" encapsulates all of the goals the agent is driven to act on; in the case of rational agents, the function also encapsulates the acceptable trade-offs between accomplishing conflicting goals. (Terminology varies; for example, some agents seek to maximize or minimize a "utility function", "objective function", or "loss function".) The theoretical and uncomputable AIXI design is a maximally intelligent agent in this paradigm; however, in the real world, the IA is constrained by finite time and hardware resources, and scientists compete to produce algorithms that can achieve progressively higher scores on benchmark tests with real-world hardware.