We argue that the fluctuations of the order parameter in a complex system at the critical point can be described in terms of intermittent dynamics of type I. Based on this observation we develop an algorithm to calculate the isothermal critical exponent delta for a "thermal" critical system. We apply successfully our approach to the 3D Ising model. The intermittent character of these "critical" dynamics guides to the introduction of a new exponent which extends the notion of the exponent delta to nonthermal systems.