Actual neural network papers are far removed from the impressions you get from popular science articles. Biological neurons were some inspiration for the abstra

Actual neural network papers are far removed from the impressions you get from popular science articles. Biological neurons were some inspiration for the abstraction, but the underlying model is more a direct evolution of the maths/stastical models. Griping that DNNs are not actually like neurons is akin to saying that Object Oriented programming is nothing like the organisation of biological cells it was inspired on. A useful abstraction is a useful abstraction, there is little reason to think that making the computational models any closer to physical processes is going to bring any improvements. Neuromorphic computing is the field that tries to more accurately mimic spiking neurons, but making something useful out of it takes a backseat. It is still an open question if it is going to be useful.