[jrochkind1]

I was confused what OP is talking about, becuase in all the screenshots I don't see any unlabelled icons, I just see icons next to words.

I was wondering... is OP in fact saying it should be just words, without the icons next to them? Which is an opinion you could have, I think it's not entirely unreasonable (although as you say Nielson contradicts), but I wasn't entirely confident it is the point OP is making... or are they just talking about unlabelled icons (few if any? I'm not sure?) in those screenshots?

I still am not totally sure what OP is arguing.

[dnpls]

OP is talking about the third example image, where there are these "stars" icons in the title row of the table. It does look like what people are using to mean AI-something, but indeed.. AI what?

[jrochkind1]

What is the first image supposed to demonstrate? Very confusing post to me.

Other people in the thread I see are arguing the OP is saying the icons next to text would be better off as just text without icons, the icons still make things messy and increase cognitive load. (which again, I think is worth considering at least, sure!) But you don't think it is?

I think I'm just going to put this away concluding it's a very unsuccesful article at whatever it's trying to do.

[materialpoint]

It doesn't matter if the icon is ever so slightly ambigious compared to other systems, the label text next to it removes any ambiguity and makes the message perfectly clear, as long as it is consistent within a product. To any newcomer to a new system, most icons don't make sense, so the text next to it is an invaluable hidden tutorial. OP didn't stop to see that the circled checkmarks look like clocks, so it just highly opinionated.

[Sjeiti]

There is the trahscan icon in the first image, but that is hardly a cognitive hurdle.

I agree icons are not always the best option, but I'd need better arguments (and bad examples) than this to stop using them altogether.