It’s basically just saying notions of compositionality from software doesn’t really translate over to analogue computers, and by extension robots that interact

It’s basically just saying notions of compositionality from software doesn’t really translate over to analogue computers, and by extension robots that interact with their environment. It seems like they’re being careful to make atomic statements that are supported by the individual papers they’re citing. They may have been dealing with some particularly obstinate reviewers and adopted a defensive writing style (it can be a tough habit to kick, I’ve definitely given overly precise seminar talks because someone brought up size issues the week before and I just didn’t want to deal with any pedantry).