The key here is looking at where HAL started at. From a simple list of ASCII characters, it has succeeded, through training, in recognizing words and phrases. Bots and other forms of "AI" feature a much heavier beginning pool of data, as well as many more logical rules for responses.
Seriously, to grow as quickly, or more quickly than a human being in vocabulary is very impressive. Certainly, the growth will be slow, they are taking a huge step in just trying to duplicate human growth speeds. I would have expected a much more casual growth expectancy from the, presumably, first machine to use a child growth pattern.
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The key here is looking at where HAL started at. From a simple list of ASCII characters, it has succeeded, through training, in recognizing words and phrases. Bots and other forms of "AI" feature a much heavier beginning pool of data, as well as many more logical rules for responses.
Seriously, to grow as quickly, or more quickly than a human being in vocabulary is very impressive. Certainly, the growth will be slow, they are taking a huge step in just trying to duplicate human growth speeds. I would have expected a much more casual growth expectancy from the, presumably, first machine to use a child growth pattern.