In your definition (which I like), AI is based on intent to simulate rather than perception. I agree that what is popularly considered AI is a moving goal-post

In your definition (which I like), AI is based on intent to simulate rather than perception. I agree that what is popularly considered AI is a moving goal-post — many don't see machine learning as AI either — e.g., it's just statistics. The term AI is very vague and misleading. It implicitly suggests a kind of magic. A lot of people believe in the magic, intended or not. I don't think this paper would be an issue at all if it was referring to a new foundation for GANs or transformers or deep learning — or anything more specific.