 You can understand this equation in terms of any of the mathematical idealizations for standard computation. For example, machines can be identified with Turing machines minus instructions (i.e., TMs are here viewed architecturally only: as having tapes divided into squares upon which symbols can be written, read/write heads capable of moving up and down the tape to write and erase, and control units which are in one of a finite number of states at any time), and programs can be identified with instructions in the Turing-machine model (telling the machine to write and erase symbols, depending upon what state the machine is in). So, if you are told that you must “program” within the constraints of a 22-state Turing machine, you could search for the “best” program given those constraints. In other words, you could strive to find the optimal program within the bounds of the 22-state architecture. Russell’s (1997) view is thus that AI is the field devoted to creating optimal programs for intelligent agents, under time and space constraints on the machines implementing these  programs.[17] 