I think it's not really interesting to say so, but by the same definition it would be fair to describe an analog circuit that models some system as understandin

I think it's not really interesting to say so, but by the same definition it would be fair to describe an analog circuit that models some system as understanding the system in some capacity. It's more interesting when the thing doing the understanding is a massive system that has both mastered English and other domains and then incidentally modeled some systems English can describe. An analog circuit that models artillery trajectories "understands" one kinematic equation. But that's kind of obvious and mundane. Understanding just one equation barely registers as profound and without that understanding existing in a larger context the word barely seems applicable.