Artificial intelligence has transformed our lives and changed how the world looks today. AI has become an almost integral part of our lives even if you deny it completely. Over the years it has only increased its power to become a powerful tool that comes in handy for many uses. But, what is AI washing? And how it has impacted thousands now?

Although it sounds like a very fancy term, in real life, AI washing is not a good option for companies out there. Artificial intelligence is a tool that has the potential to change everything for good. Starting from right the beginning AI has garnered a lot of attention from the business owners who are out there. Even the biggest companies invest in AI models for basic chatbots on their websites.

Whenever AI has been on the market studies are showing that it created an air of popularity around it. Every startup owner who has mentioned the presence of artificial intelligence has gained 50% more chances of securing an investment. In 2024 it has become extremely difficult to identify real products and overhyped ones due to constant AI washing by the companies out there.

Everything that you need to know about AI Washing 

Artificial intelligence is without a doubt an interesting tool but it is not an all-powerful one. If I am a business owner and I need to advertise my product through my WhatsApp Business channel I will have to choose AI. But Here's where things start to get murky. There are a lot of businesses out there that are regularly developing new products on new ideas. These companies use AI to advertise their product or use it for listing. They often take the help of artificial intelligence to describe the product to their targeted niche of customers.

In some, this case depends on overhead products to garner more attention and revenue from the market. Unless a large number of people are gaining interest about something more revenue will not come in. For this reason, sailors try their best to sell their products in the market. A lot of these business owners take the help of AI models and this is what we call AI washing. It is a clever way to create additional Hype that a product does not even deserve in the first place. 

AI washing is a dangerous thing that exists in the world out there. Suppose, you have a product and you want to overhype its capabilities or demand. By AI washing, a business owner can easily sell their product or service in the form of AI. They do it mainly to transform their product and make it look better, more intelligent, and more sophisticated. There are marketers out there, more in number than you can ever imagine, who regularly use these tactics.

How Do Marketers Use AI Washing?

It is now a well-known fact that not every service or product that you may see listed out there, is capable enough for your needs. A consumer might not find that service suitable enough to fulfill what he requires at that point. This is where marketers bring a very useful, yet fatal tool into the scenario. Through AI washing, they try to attract as many customers as they can.

Often, marketers will use the term 'AI tool' or 'intelligent' in order to label their services as something outstanding. But in reality, that tool might not be capable of learning your usage patterns at all. It might be just another software that behaves according to fixed programmed scenarios. You might notice some refrigerators or air conditioners have this label. They are not autonomous bodies and can be controlled via mobile applications at most. Through AI washing there, it is easy to overstate or exaggerate their capabilities or functions. A similar thing happens with online web tools, where the end product you get is often processed by office workers from the other end. 

In most of these cases, AI washers will repeatedly belittle human efforts from the software's end. For most of these available services, there happens to be some service provider who manages the connection with the customers. Marketers often try to nullify their presence by branding their service as 'intelligent'. In fact, they do not try to explain which parts of their program happen to be 'intelligent'. Once revealed, this vagueness regarding a service can often turn out to be ridiculous and underwhelming.

How problematic is AI washing in 2024?

Although the advent of artificial intelligence was long before the last pandemic, the problem still lies with us today. As the market is campaigners use the label ‘’intelligent AI'' too often, it becomes a problem for investors to trust. They stop communicating entirely and hence you start noticing a void in the market. This breach of trust will completely throw the consumer-investor balance off before any potentially true product comes out.

Already the world has stereotypes regarding the presence of AI in the industry. The overhyped labeling of artificial intelligence just adds more fuel to the fire. Genuine innovations will not get noticed if AI washing remains a malpractice among marketers. Considering how it poses a threat to overturn business relationships, AI washing is genuinely problematic for all of us.