The word 'understand' is meaningless to a piece of software. Software doesn't understand anything; it parses patterns, makes comparisons, infers by referencing vast databases, does all of this and more but it understands nothing. In other words, appearances can and are deceptive. I can't believe that otherwise (I assume) intelligent people can make such a fundamental error about the nature of intelligence. It's all bound up with self-consciousness; matter perceiving itself.