Big data and IoT benefit from machine learning, AI apocalypse not imminent

Suddenly, everybody is talking about machine learning, AI bots and deep learning. It's showing up in new products to look at "call home data," in cloud-hosted optimization services and even built into new storage arrays! Is this something brand new or just the maturation of ideas spawned out of decades-old artificial intelligence research? Does deep learning require conversion to some mystical new church to understand it, or do our computers suddenly get way smarter overnight? Should we sleep with a finger on the power off button?