The real reason AI is difficult

This Christmas, my friend's grandmother finally found out what her grandson had been working on for years. He's a data scientist raised on English with a bit of Spanish that gets dusted off on occasional family occasions. His grandmother speaks only Spanish. "Before today, my grandmother had no idea what I actually do for a living." The sci-fi-fuelled rumors of what data scientists work on -- especially if we specialize in AI -- attract a whiff of the ridiculous, so many of us find ourselves constantly having to explain our life choices.