But doesnt existing AI systems already learn in some way ? Like the training steps are actually the AI learning already. If you have your training material being setup by something like claude code, then it kind of is already autonomous learning.

Most, if not all, commercially available AI models are doing offline learning. The cognition is a skill that is only possible on online learning which is the autonomous part the authors refer to, that is, learning by observing, interacting.

In that sense the "autonomous" part you said simply meant that the data source is coming from a different place, but the model itself is not free to explore with a knowledge base to deduce from, but rather infer on what is provided to it.