>>Are we also stochastic parrots

'Stochastic' is one of those words that means different things depending on whether you're in a scientific context or not, like 'theory' and 'law'.

In a general context it means conjectural.

In a scientific context it means affected by random processes to the point that it fits a Gaussian (bell) curve.

This is an article about language, after all. :-)

More seriously, the notion of random is important as AI models start with random interconnects, and use data to train, but biological models start with a mix of random and non-random (developmental) interconnects. For anyone interested in that process, I'd suggest William Harris' "Zero to Birth" - but remember that we humans are born with a mostly un-myelinated CNS, and this process is critical to development. (IMO oligodendrocytes are cool; they just find a spot, wrap around and around and around (and around...) and deflate the cytosol from those layers, leaving a bunch of layers of cell membrane (kind of like electrical tape that wraps itself). Hey presto — a faster oligodendrocyte-wide section of faster /more efficient axon.