[mikolajw]

You're right that journalists use anthropomorphization much more. But AI researchers also have a long history of choosing terms that are anthropomorphizing or animating. Here the name PLATO -- which evokes an image of an ancient philosopher, a human, who is by cultural tradition considered smart -- is used in the original journal article.

Terms like "neural network" and "artificial intelligence" are frequently used by AI engineers and researchers despite the obvious image they evoke. Sometimes they even call their creations "brains". Also note the name DeepMind.

It's definitely not just the journalists.