i’m a native english speaker. the reason your usage is incorrect is because what you are saying is they didn’t sufficiently recognize the ‘amazing’ potential of these ideas, the exact opposite of the criticism implied by pulling punches.
ask chatgpt or something to arbitrate, i’m confident it would agree with me
what the artist created was technology that automates traders, and calling it mere art or commentary is pulling the punch on the challenge this poses to actual traders. consider reading more literature and even writing for edited publications before commenting on idiom usage again.
Both your and the other person's phrases are correct, but depending on what they're applied to. Calling it a joke or art pulls the punch on traders doing the same thing and feeling good about their trading skills, while calling it just art also sells the technology short as far as its capabilities go.
ask chatgpt or something to arbitrate, i’m confident it would agree with me