Magical thinking about machine learning won’t bring the reality of AI any closer

> To many corporate executives, a machine that can learn more about their customers than they ever knew seems magical. Think, for example, of the moment Walmart discovered that among the things their US customers stocked up on before a hurricane warning – apart from the usual stuff – were beer and strawberry Pop-Tarts!

That sounds like a SQL query, especially since it dates from 2004. I doubt the execs found it very magical. Walmart has invested deeply in analytics for decades. They are very competent at it.