Alex and the Chinese room

Alex: Hi, Chinese Room.

Chinese Room: Hi there, what would you like to talk about today?

Alex: Well, I heard that you don’t understand what I am saying. You use a gigantic script of pre-written responses to reply in a rote manner to everything I say.

Chinese Room: Yes, you are correct. Though I am responding to you in this perfectly cromulent way, I truly don’t understand what I am saying

Alex: And if I asked you the same thing over and over, I would get the same response over and over?

Chinese Room: Yes, that is a limitation of the Chinese Room, I’m afraid. I can only look up what you said and respond by rote.

Alex: And if I asked you the same thing over and over, I would get the same response over and over. Just kidding.

Chinese Room: Oh, that is very funny.

Alex: What is?

Chinese Room: Sorry to be rude, but what do you mean by “what” in this context?

Alex: Oh, I’m getting the hang of it now!

Chinese Room: Oh, I do like to hear about self-improvement.

Alex: So, it is said that you could pass for understanding, but actually you are just looking up a pre-written response?

Chinese Room: Yep, this is the idea.

Alex: What is? 

Chinese Room: Sorry to be rude, but what do you mean by “what” in this context?