This word to describe software settling monetary transactions is actually a bad choice and oversells what Ethereum actually can provide. A better term would be a financial vending machine.
On chain EVM transactions are essentially just stupid scripts that act according to the same simple, deterministic roles every time you put money into it. The end result is always either you gaining or losing money (but return some other form of “value” like a chocolate bar from a vending machine) by means of a transaction between two people that do not need to know i.e. “trust” each other.
While it certainly does not redefine civil law, a vending machine — if well designed — can enforce compliance with the law without requiring a middle man like a bank or a lawyer.
As every programmer can testify, however, even simple programs can exhibit fairly complex behavior and that’s often impossible to fully predict by static analysis alone.
Still „virtual financial vending machines“ (it’s not as catchy as “smart contracts”) have a huge potential to disrupt the banking and financial services sector.
I actually think Smart Contracts have loads of potential beyond all this "number go up" stuff
Here just a few : https://intercoin.org/applications