Python seems to be eating R's lunch these times and Perl is not even a contender anymore

I sit near a PhD AI researcher at work and often hear her extolling the virtues of Python. I sometimes hear her defending her choice of Python over C++ ("I'm a scientist, not a professional programmer") but never Perl. Perl is not on her radar. At all. I never suggest Perl to her because, frankly, if I was working in her field I would also choose Python. This is not about technical capability, it's about alignment with colleagues in your field.