"Mental model" is a useful shorthand for referring to it. We say an A-star pathfinding algorithm "wants" to minimize its cost function. We can say this while

"Mental model" is a useful shorthand for referring to it. We say an A-star pathfinding algorithm "wants" to minimize its cost function. We can say this while understanding that it's a computer that doesn't have desires. But we say it because it's an easier way to communicate. We don't have to talk like lawyers all the time.