I find more and more people use the term “machine learning” when they really mean to say “modeling.” I guess that is like calling all types of data activities — with big and small data — “Big Data.” And that’s OK.
Languages are developed to communicate with other human beings more effectively. If most people use the term to include broader meanings than the myopic definition of the words in question, and if there is no trouble understanding each other that way, who cares? I’m not here to defend the purity of the meaning, but to monetize big or small data assets.