But in some sense, so it "tech". The paperclip is a highly evolved technology, for example, [1], but working on those doesn't mean you work "in tech". Tech meant something like, "the new stuff that is impacting our lives but we don't know how to handle". So a CTO's job generally doesn't include the paperclips, the copiers, or the company cars, however technological they are.
And as with any shiny new marketing term, others will quickly rush in. There was the craze for radioactivity, which resulted in a bunch of radioactive patent medicines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_quackery
But even more interesting to me is the extent to which it was used as a pure marketing term, with no radioactivity expected. E.g.: https://lucyjanesantos.com/a-batschari-radium-cigarettes/
So I'm sure we'll be seeing all sorts of things branded "AI" even when they don't use any of the technologies involved. With no trademark on the term or organization to defend it, it's open season for all the sketch marketers.
[1] For those who doubt, Petroski's "The Evolution of Useful Things" will set you straight: https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Useful-Things-Artifacts-Zip...
What you're optimizing for here is your experience. Your desire for tidiness.
To make a real change in the world, you need to optimize for the experience of the people who will adopt the new thing. For example, how would people using the the web benefit right now from replacing 802.11, IP, TCP, and HTTP with one monster protocol that just did the same stuff? They wouldn't. And neither would most protocol implementers, because a) they have to throw out everything they know and learn it all again, and b) they'd have to rebuild everything that currently exists.
And even if we push past that, it still won't work, because it's based on what I think of as the Architect's Illusion, the notion that a sufficiently smart person can just look at things and think real hard and have a perfect solution appear. The truth is that real products evolve over time as part of a dialog between and among users and makers. Even the simple paperclip, for example, evolved heavily. [1] If smart people can't get the paperclip right on a first try, there is no way they'll get a massive protocol stack right. And even if they did, next week somebody would come up with something new that doesn't fit, and we'd be right back where we were.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Useful-Things-Artifacts-Zip...
I really enjoyed this book, and it sounds you might too
The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are Paperback – February 1, 1994 by Henry Petroski (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Useful-Things-Artifacts-Zip...