It excludes methods specific to a small number of problems. Search is about general problem solving.
Anyway, IIUC this is how the term “search” has historically been used in AI, it is also the notion of “search” which is relevant to the arguments for mesaoptimization in Risks From Learned Optimization, it is also the notion of search which is relevant to general intelligence being A Thing, it is the notion of search which is relevant to the possibility of an ML system suddenly grokking “general search” and thereby undergoing a rapid increase in capabilities, etc.
It excludes methods specific to a small number of problems. Search is about general problem solving.
Anyway, IIUC this is how the term “search” has historically been used in AI, it is also the notion of “search” which is relevant to the arguments for mesaoptimization in Risks From Learned Optimization, it is also the notion of search which is relevant to general intelligence being A Thing, it is the notion of search which is relevant to the possibility of an ML system suddenly grokking “general search” and thereby undergoing a rapid increase in capabilities, etc.