It actually is, but you want it to be literally the same. Given the options of what it can be compared to, learning is the most appropriate, which is exactly why it's named Machine Learning. The only reason you could believe otherwise is if you have no concept of language, and believe that it must be literally identical to a person learning in order to use the same verbiage.

It does not; which is the reason why it's called learning. It's the closest, and most accurate approximation, regardless of the mathematical operations on which it's based.