What do you mean with "true understanding" here? Asking a computer to solve say, multiplication of large numbers, and it will provide the correct expected answer, with speed and and accuracy that outperform any human out there.
Should we say that such a calculator application "understand" arithmetic?
>I don't know why people are constantly downplaying the AI.
Maybe that’s in a balance with "everybody seeing the raise to conscious understanding of AI" each time a new credibly-human-like-output is generated?
Just like pareidolia: "yes there is obviously something that evokes a visage in that rock" doesn’t have to be interpreted as a sign that Nature loves to purposefully sculpt human faces.
From an evolutionary perspective, we see faces everywhere just like we see sign of understanding in surrounding agents because it makes our species more efficient in social cooperation, which to my mind is by a very large margin our best asset.
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human...
https://www.amazon.com/SuperCooperators-Altruism-Evolution-O...
I find it very hard to believe all these scientist didn't know what was going on nor would I be surprised to find out they participated in it.
[1] (https://www.amazon.com/SuperCooperators-Altruism-Evolution-O...)
https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/07/mit-gets-a-140m-anonymous-...
has the same chances of being accepted to MIT as yours or mine, regardless of test scores, then "I've got some property overlooking South Beach down on Martha's Vineyard that I'd like to sell you," as Alan Dershowitz recently told a news reporter :)
Regarding your degree of faith in the ability of humans to cooperate without ever defecting, let me refer you to this aptly entitled book:
https://www.amazon.com/SuperCooperators-Altruism-Evolution-O...
How do you think Harvard and MIT helped Mr. Jeffrey Epstein evade prosecution on the child sex-trafficking charges for over thirty years?
Type into your favorite search engine: "Martin Nowak Jeffrey Epstein Alan Dershowitz and the legal definition of a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization" if you need a refresher.
And quite frankly, I could care less who MIT or Harvard accepts these days. Admission to these schools has become nothing more than a modern-day equivalent of the 'beauty pageants' of yesteryear ... for all of the nerdy teenagers who don't look good enough in a bathing suit for Mr. Epstein apparently:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/fbi-want...