Can the word 'proficient' only be applied to humans?

Solution 1:

To my mind, proficiency happens after learning something.

You become proficient after mastering a skill. A cat learns to catch mice from its mother and becomes proficient at it. A child becomes proficient at reading after learning at school. But the cat and child aren’t just generally ‘proficient’ - they are proficient at - mouse-catching, and reading, respectively.

I don’t think your first 3 examples work, because the system isn’t learning anything, or advancing in a specified area. The last example might, if the DNA is ‘learning something’ or ‘advancing towards’ something specific.

However, a system could cause an organisation or individual to become proficient, or more proficient. As in ‘the online learning system increased the students’ proficiency in French by 30%’.

An AI system could in my view, express proficiency - as it can learn. As in ‘the AI system quickly became proficient in predicting traffic jams’ (by, for example, learning and extrapolating patterns). So, it learned something, or acquired a skill.

Further, you need to be ‘proficient at’ something, or moving towards a specific goal, to use the term.

Proficient is from the Latin ‘proficere’ - to advance, make progress.

However if you said ‘the system is proficient’ I would be compelled to ask you ‘at what?’

Proficient at tennis. Proficient at filling in tax forms. Proficient at driving a car.

You’d need to specify what the system is proficient at.

For example ‘the system is proficient at predicting and utilising network lulls’. Or ‘the system is proficient in divining where oil is concealed underground’.

But ‘the system is proficient’ or ‘it’s a proficient system’ doesn’t work, as ‘proficient’ means ‘moving towards’ something - and in my view, you need to say - what.

https://www.etymonline.com/word/proficiency#etymonline_v_2628