Machine Learning is really good at partially solving just about any problem

I agree but my conclusion based on this is that, for the foreseeable future, we'll need hybrid systems that can merge expert knowledge with machine learning.

In the coming weeks there will be a lot of hand-wringing about Watson's performance on Jeopardy and what it means for humanity and jobs and so on.. I think it's important to remember that the last mile in many tasks will still require humans and that AI should be seen more as human augmentation rather than replacement.