Maybe they should word the question that way then? No one is asking for using widely criticized ML tooling.
The addition of the word "estimate" doesn't break the word budget and opens a lot of flexibility when it comes to unfamiliar tooling. Even if we ignore that, I reiterate: who has ever asked that question? The outlandishness of that question surely has at least as much responsibility as the obscurity of the UX in question or the general population's lack of education.
Personally I think most of the actual tasks have so little bearing on the reality of the average computer user's needs I can't say I'm surprised folks couldn't succeed. I also think this is a cognitive trap for a lot of folks here used to being skilled computer users; becoming eager to pontificate on why our unique insight is what's needed to "fix" the problem.