That is correct. But they are not supposed to: natural nervous systems are just an inspiration. That perspective is only valid in _nervous systems emulations_ - which is just a subset of what we do.

> using the term

'Artificial', in use, stands for "non natural, non spontaneous"; it means "done with an aim" (cpr. Sanskirt arth, artha, arthin, arya; Greek aretē, àristos). Those items are. They are called metaphorically - but evidently so - 'synapses', which means "joinings, interfastenings" (see in engineering 'haptic', "touching"), because they join the elements of a "neural network", where 'neuron' remains "a string" - a "connection significant of a relation".

So: at some point some thought: "What if we obtain something through joining similar elements in a network... Yes, similarly to the other one". It fits, because the model is this model, a model of the natural thing. You have natural neural networks, their model ("just a network"), and such model (of the natural thing) is used as a model (for designing further things).