In statistics, sample efficiency means you can precisely estimate a specified parameter like the mean with few samples. In AI, it seems to mean that the AI can

In statistics, sample efficiency means you can precisely estimate a specified parameter like the mean with few samples. In AI, it seems to mean that the AI can learn how to do unspecified, very general stuff without much data. Like the underlying truth about the world and how to reach one's goals within it is just some giant parameter vector that we need to infer more or less efficiently from "sampled" sensory data.