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Slang & Culture

AI Washing

Falsely or exaggeratedly labeling a product as “AI-powered” when it contains minimal or no real AI, typically for marketing purposes.

Origin · no single documented coiner

Modeled on “greenwashing”; it spread through business and regulatory commentary (including US Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement language in 2024) without a single documented coiner. The most systematic critique of overselling is Arvind Narayanan’s (profiled on our Who’s Who page) AI Snake Oil, written with Sayash Kapoor, which separates AI that works from AI that does not — especially predictive systems used on people.

No single primary source link for this term.