Ben Jones: I think a process can be deterministic and (relatively) simple, yet still count as an optimization process. An AI that implements an A* algorithm to find the best path across a maze might quality as a (specialized) Optimization process. You can make more accurate predictions about it's final state than about which way it will turn at a particular intersection - and you can't always do so for a stone rolling down a hill.

But I'm not sure about this, because you could say something similar about the deterministic checkers player - maybe it uses A* too!