I think it's also related to automation in manufacturing. I imagine Tesla gets lots of sales people trying to pitch "ML-enhanced manufacturing solution".

Many repetitive tasks are better suited to a simple heuristic. In those scenarios using ML as a solution is like building a rocket to fly from SF to LA. In many cases, heuristics are both simpler and the best solution to a problem, but many companies are falling into the hype trap and using ML to solve problems where it's actually complete overkill or unnecessary.