Not if you cycle it on and off, which is what air conditioners actually do. Either operate at peak efficiency, or not at all, as I said. You can get more or less cooling by altering the duty cycle of when it's on, up to being on full time.
Huh! You are just repeating what I said. You can't argue that it is an efficient or effective system though, because it simply is not. Do you always turn the faucet on full to fill a glass with water? Do you set your stove burner on full to warm up some soup. Do you accelerate your car to full speed and then slam on the brakes at the next stop light? Of course not, and yet this is how A/C works. How many times have you heard people complain that A/C leaves them either too hot or too cold? It is inefficient if you are using more energy than is actually needed at a given time. The solution has been to run the A/C and add warm air so you avoid the uncomfortable cycling and can zone different parts of living space to specific temperatures. You trade off energy efficiency for comfort.