There are going to be people in the world that are capable of reading things like an ML paper and there are going to be people who are not. Calculus (or other advanced mathematics) is part of what you'll need to understand those papers.

If having the ability to read such papers and understand such concepts isn't something you want for yourself then you definitely shouldn't take advanced mathematics courses. However, many people see the ability to understand those types of things to be a useful skill in giving them opportunities in the future.