I take them to be making the point that a lot of comments in these threads have said something like "yeah it could do language but it doesn't understand the con

I take them to be making the point that a lot of comments in these threads have said something like "yeah it could do language but it doesn't understand the concepts." I think it's probably been one of the most popular opinions espoused in these threads if I had to estimate. Although I do agree with you that it shouldn't be surprising.