If this object is not natural, then a rational strategy must have been adopted for its long-term exploration and observation.
When viewing the solar system from far away, Jupiter and Saturn are the most prominent objects, and it is safe to assume that these giant gas planets would be the first targets of exploration.
If this exploration plan was prepared by someone with more advanced scientific technology than humans, it is only natural to expect that they would use an AI-like system for the plan. Such a mechanism would allow observers to be sent out on extremely long voyages with peace of mind. Even if an unforeseen incident were to occur during the voyage, an AI-like system would be able to respond appropriately.
It would be rational for this object to pass perihelion and select the most efficient orbit for Jupiter, one of its original strategic targets.
However, it is hard to imagine that this object is not receiving radio waves from Earth. It is probably reasonable to assume that it is aware of the presence of some kind of intelligence, namely, us humans.
I think what we need to pay attention to going forward is what the orbit of the object will be after it makes its closest approach to Jupiter.
In other words, the non-gravitational acceleration introduced a small course correction of exactly the magnitude needed to bring the minimum distance of 3I/ATLAS from Jupiter to the value of Jupiter’s Hill radius. 3I/ATLAS would have missed the edge of the Hill sphere otherwise.https://avi-loeb.medium.com/a-remarkable-new-anomaly-of-3i-atlas-420065c2cddf