ML models in smart thermostats learning your schedule to run HVAC more efficiently

Are we now considering ML algorithms capable of running on an embedded device AI?

Is there a minimum amount of transistors that must be consumed to be considered AI, and does this scale regularly with Moore's law?

But yes, I do :) I consider something as basic as MNIST Digit detection to be AI, even if everyone else doesn't

I don't think anyone has argues for defining AI by transistor count, at east I've never heard that take. Its based on capabilities and the question is always where does one draw the line.

It seems odd to me for the line to be so low that a simple ML algorithm running on embedded hardware would count as AI. What does the term AI mean at that point, and what term would you propose we start using for systems that are approaching or exceeding human intelligence?

To me, AI is something that learns or adapts how to perform a task, without being explicitly given instructions on it. I've almost always seen this definition used in this manner.

Something beyond human intelligence is also AI, just maybe a subset of general AI or strong AI (as opposed to narrow or weak AI).