AI isn't a challenge to those who know better, the rest are already building their cults about it: some say it will save us from downfall, others saying it will create the downfall. The sad part is that either group could be right, as it's all a self-fulfilling prophecy and just requires enough people participating in the myth to make it happen.

And I reject the "vapourware" label. Machine Learning has a lot of potential for the future, especially as we break out of standard Von Neumann architecture and experiment with different types of computers/computing. Will it ever do what the consumers currently expect it to do? No. Will it continue to develop and grow into it's own domain of computing? I'd bet on it.