AI pilot projects: How to choose wisely

A few years ago, I was listening to a vendor pitch with a group of enterprise IT veterans. The sell focused on features of an intrusion detection software product and the value of artificial intelligence. The vendor said AI techniques allowed the product to automatically detect threats. Discussing the pitch afterward, the general sentiment of the group was "I don't buy it. There is no such thing as magic!" Based on our past software experience, the vendor pitch seemed like snake oil.