Image classification is a good demo/test case. However image sensors still cost multiple dollars, so one would likely spent a bit more in the microcontroller in that case. Accelerometer or microphone on the other hand adds just 30 cents to the BOM, and can be processed on similar cheap microcontroller. That is at least what I have found so far, trying to build a sub 1 dollar ML-powered system
https://hackaday.io/project/194511-1-dollar-tinyml