As another commenter explained, different domains use words differently. The ML paper I linked has been influential enough to use the word "emergent" in machine

As another commenter explained, different domains use words differently. The ML paper I linked has been influential enough to use the word "emergent" in machine learning to describe this behaviour, so you're right that, within the context of ML and AI, "gradual emergence" is an oxymoron. Again, I understand this might not align with what you think "emergence" means in the English language, in the same way in which "metal" in physics has a completely different meaning from "metal" in chemistry, "metal" in astrophysics, and "metal" in the English language.