Is AI a fad?

Every time some genius decides to apply AI where it doesn't belong, the world collectively rolls its eyes and puts another ballot in the AI-Is-A-Fad box. If your dictionary defines AI as magic or robots (or magical robots), of course you'll be disappointed when it doesn't deliver the cure to all that ails you. Let's look at three common gripes using simple examples everyone can grasp. A respectable software engineer once asked me with a straight face, "Can AI know that Canada is a country?" Hold your horses there, cowboy.