Generally agree with OP that ML is one of the last viable frontiers for the current generation of computer tech. We are basically taking the data generated by machines invented decades ago, and using statistics to optimize a few % of productivity points more out of them every year. This optimization applies to humans to - one day you'll be required to have an OBD dongle monitoring your driving data to get car insurance, for instance. Many facets of your life will be monitored and fed into a company's individualized production function or pricing equation.

When the economic cake is growing slowly, every last drop of productivity enhancement counts, and ML is doing a good job at shaving a few basis points off basic costs, such as energy (see DeepMind's work on Google's datacenters), transportation (autonomous cars), and human capital (making some simple jobs redundant). That's why everyone is piling into IoT/ML/AI right now.

What ML is NOT doing is creating a new paradigm/market/computing platform. It's optimizing old markets and technologies. It's not baking new cakes.

We'll see a new platform soon. The cycle of human technological progress has been chugging along steadily for a long time and has sped up exponentially in the past 200 years. I'm sure some new tech will come along soon that will allow us to bake more cakes instead of spreading icing ever-thinner on the ones we already have.