These days, it feels like everything is "AI-powered." The basketball hoop. The running shoe. The handheld scanner that draws a floor plan. Add the label on top, and an ordinary product is supposed to sound like the future.
Most of it isn't AI. It's branding. And the people who have to sell that story to the press are getting tired of it.
What is AI washing?
AI washing is when a company overstates or fakes the role of artificial intelligence in a product or service to ride the hype. The term borrows from "greenwashing," where brands exaggerate how environmentally friendly they are. Same move, newer buzzword. In a lot of cases, it is plain automation that has been around for years, freshly relabelled as AI.
The distinction matters. Automation follows rules you set. AI makes judgments based on patterns it has learned. Useful tools, both of them. But they are not the same thing, and pretending otherwise is where the trouble starts.
The trend now has a name, and PR teams are exhausted by it
A recent Guardian report on AI washing put numbers to something a lot of us already felt. Communications staff said bosses in low-tech industries were demanding to be pitched to journalists as AI companies, even when there was no real AI involved. One central London account director estimated that around half the AI stories they send out are ones they would rather not send.
The examples are almost comedy. A shoe company "pivoting" to acquiring AI graphics chips. AI-powered basketball hoops. AI-powered lasers that somehow protect commuters on crowded platforms. A handheld scanner that draws a floor plan, marketed as AI when it is mostly automation. One publicist described the contortions needed to manufacture an AI angle as "Bikram yoga-level stretches."
The throughline is simple. Reporters have gone numb to the words "AI-powered" and "AI-driven," and the people doing the pitching feel their own credibility slipping with every release.
Why so many businesses do it
Attention and money, mostly. Startups that mention AI in their pitches have been shown to raise meaningfully more funding than those that don't, and one European survey found that roughly 40% of companies branding themselves as "AI startups" had little to no genuine AI capability. Regulators have started to notice too. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged founders over inflated AI claims, treating it as ordinary fraud dressed in new vocabulary.
So the incentive is real. The label opens doors. The problem is what happens after the door opens.
What this looks like from the inside
I spent years on the communications side, building brand and messaging at a regional level across Southeast Asia, before I founded KVE Studio. I know the pressure to make something sound bigger than it is. The deck needs a hook. The launch needs an angle. AI is the easiest angle in the room right now.
Overselling doesn't build trust. It spends it.
Here is the part the hype skips. The first oversold claim might win the click. But the customer who buys on that claim and then meets a product that doesn't match is the customer you lose, loudly. Trust is the most expensive thing to rebuild in marketing, and AI washing quietly burns through it.
A better way to talk about AI
The founders who actually win with AI aren't the ones performing sophistication. They are the ones who can tell you exactly which part of their business runs on AI, and which part still runs on human judgment and taste.
"This piece is automated. This piece isn't, and that's on purpose." That sentence sounds less impressive in a pitch. But it builds far more confidence in a buyer, because it sounds like someone who actually understands their own product.
If you want to talk about AI without washing your brand in it, a few honest habits go a long way:
- Name the specific task AI does for you, not a vague "AI-powered everything."
- Be clear about what is still human. That is a feature, not a confession.
- Describe the outcome the customer gets, then mention the tool, not the other way around.
- Never claim AI you can't explain in one plain sentence.
- Automate the parts that free you up. Protect the parts that make people choose you.
That last line is the whole philosophy, really. Not every part of your business should be automated, and not everything you sprinkle the word "AI" on will sound like the future. The skill isn't adding AI everywhere. It is knowing where it belongs.
Frequently asked questions
What is AI washing?
AI washing is when a company overstates or fakes the role of artificial intelligence in a product or service to capitalise on the hype. It is often ordinary automation relabelled as AI, similar to how greenwashing exaggerates environmental claims.
What are examples of AI washing?
Reported examples include a shoe brand pivoting to acquiring AI chips, AI-powered basketball hoops, AI-powered lasers pitched as protecting commuters, and a handheld floor-plan scanner marketed as AI when it is mostly automation.
Why do companies engage in AI washing?
Attention and money. Startups mentioning AI tend to raise more funding, and the label earns coverage and clicks. The pressure to look advanced pushes businesses to stretch the truth.
How can I avoid AI washing in my own marketing?
Name the task AI actually performs, be honest about what is still human, describe the customer outcome rather than the buzzword, and never claim AI you cannot explain. Automate what frees you up and protect what makes people choose you.
Is using AI in marketing a bad thing?
No. Using AI well is a genuine advantage. The problem isn't the technology, it is the overselling. Buyers have grown numb to the word AI, so honesty about where it helps is what builds trust now.
Drawing that line for your own business?
Which parts of your business actually need AI, and which parts are the reason people choose you? If that's the line you're trying to draw, it's exactly the kind of work we do at KVE Studio. Come talk it through with us.
And I'm curious: where have you seen "AI-powered" used to mean almost nothing?
