AI's struggle to reach "understanding" and "meaning"

This article is part of our reviews of AI research papers, a series of posts that explore the latest findings in artificial intelligence. The short excerpt below from the 1938 film La Femme du Boulanger (The Baker's Wife) ingeniously depicts how the human mind can extract deep meaning from life experiences and perceived situations. In the movie, directed by Marcel Pagnol, the baker Aimable welcomes his wife Aurelie, who has just come back after running off with a shepherd days earlier. While Aimable treats Aurelie with sweet words and a heart-shaped bread (which he had baked for himself), he shows no kindness toward Pomponette, his female cat who coincidentally returns home at the same time as Aurelie, after abandoning her mate Pompon for a chat de gouttière (alley cat). Aimable calls Pomponette ordur (junk) and a salope (a rude term) who has run off with un inconnu (a nobody) and bon-a-rien (good for nothing) while the poor Pompon has been miserably searching for her everywhere.