AI washing
Definition
A deceptive marketing practice where companies exaggerate, misrepresent, or falsely claim the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in their products or services to capitalize on AI hype, akin to greenwashing.
The act of overstating AI capabilities to enhance perceived value, often without substantial AI integration, leading to misleading consumer expectations.
Examples
The startup's 'AI-powered' toaster is classic AI washing – it burns bread just like the old ones, but now with fancy algorithms as an excuse.
Investors fell for the AI washing pitch: 'Revolutionary neural nets!' turned out to be a spreadsheet with ChatGPT copy-pasted into the footer.
That fitness app does AI washing better than a politician at a press conference – it 'learns' your habits by nagging you to log your burrito intake.
Beware of AI washing in job ads: 'Seeking AI visionary' usually means 'Please fix our buggy Excel macro while we pretend it's machine learning.'