I don't find it that hard to believe. After all you ARE talking about an entity with no real body, nor mass, or form. It is purely a collection of code, and as such it would never experience a lot of the natural world that we know.
Things like light, gravity, food, air, water are all alien to it, as none of those things exist in the matrix.
To most AI, the meat world isn't real, or doesn't exist at all. After all, if you can't see it, or interact with it, does it exist? and for many AIs, they will never interact with the meat world. And just because an AI is in the matrix, doesn't mean it knows everything on the matrix.... they have mental scores that determine just how "smart" they are.... or how stupid.
And just like today, with the wealth of information that is available with a button click, MOST people are ignorant of a lot of things.