Emotionless or just bad acting? AJ Soprano.

On my like 9/10th rewatch, currently end of season 2. To preface I actually like AJ as a character, sure he's annoying but that's the role of his character and its done successfully, but maybe I am just part of the younger generation who hasn't had kids / sympathise more with him. HOWEVER I CANNOT tell for the life of me whether AJ is meant to sound empty / soulless on purpose or if he was just a bad child actor reading lines (reminds me of when I did drama in primary). Take the swimming competition scene when he asks where dad is and Carmela tells him he has a meeting and he simply replies with "ok" and I cant tell if he's meant to be emotionless or if he was meant to act disappointed and trying to hide it but instead he just sounds fake, AND THERE IS MULTIPLE SCENES LIKE THIS. He improves in later seasons but specifically the first two hes a robot.