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'AI washing': firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

theguardian.com

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Re: 'AI washing': firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

#71

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

Sharlin wrote: post #38
gum_wobble wrote: post #14

> PR executives say UK companies are forcing them to present ordinary automation as artificial intelligence What a time to be alive

To be fair, that’s not exactly a new thing, it’s just sensitive to the exact phase of the Great AI Freeze/Thaw Cycle. A lot of now-ordinary automation used to be "AI" until it become commonplace and no longer buzzword-worthy and thus no longer regarded as "AI", and/or an AI winter hit. Last time that AI was big before DL it was the "big data" fad and everything had to be big data. Marketing has never not been about h…

I understand why companies try to brand themselves as the latest and greatest tech innovation. What I don't understand is why it works or who falls for it. It's quite trivial to determine whether or not this is e.g. transformer-based AI.

I remember in the years before the pandemic that I would joke that all you had to do was "sprinkle in some blockchain" to your VC pitch and your valuation would automatically go up by tens of millions. It seemed dumb to me then and it seems dumb to me now.

Re: 'AI washing': firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

#72

Post by brewdad »

solenoid0937 wrote: post #2

I'd love to read the mind of an investor that actually falls for this shit. Who actually thinks that Allbirds will see much higher returns because they "have an AI graphics division?" I like AI, but seriously, who actually invests on this basis? Where is the critical thinking? I don't feel sympathy for any investor that gets rug pulled on this stuff.

It’s the latest version of the meme stock craze. Nobody bought Gamespot stock because they thought it was a good long term investment. They bought it because they thought they could quickly double or triple their money and leave someone holding the bag

Re: 'AI washing': firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

#73

Post by CobrastanJorji »

autoexec wrote: post #69

I hope these companies aren't in for a shock when the younger generation rejects their brands https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/920401/g... If negative perception towards AI grows, either because of negative experiences after having it forced on them, or as people's utility bills skyrocket, or as the environmental impact becomes more apparent, they might find that what appeals to shareholders doesn'…

My kid was an excited Duolingo user who immediately cut it off entirely as soon as he heard that they were doing something with AI. That was all it took. He heard "Duolingo's AI now" on some YouTube video, and it was immediately dead to him.

I don't think people understand just how viscerally negative the perception of AI is for the youth.

Re: 'AI washing': firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

#74

Post by minraws »

fnimick wrote: post #65
mnky9800n wrote: post #62

I think the worst part of all this is AI managed to make software cool again while also attacking software developers for no reason at all. Instead of claiming that AI will automate everything (like hello what do you think software does?). They could have said this will create millions of new jobs by giving access to tooling that lets you create whatever you want inside of a computer and offer it up to others. I gues…

It's more profitable to eliminate employee costs than make new products. There's a reason layoffs make stock prices soar far more than product announcements.

Depends on which company you are, if Nvidia announced a layoff US stock market will collapse. If Microsoft did, then they will be lauded.

Layoffs aren't indicators of success or failure, just some theoretical tea leaf reading style signal for future profits of a company. So if a company is already growing unbelievably fast layoffs are a bad sign, if a company is slowing in growth apparently having employees on business units not working out is equally a bad sign.

And for many companies these layoffs are the modern version of Roman public executions with the audience(investors) cheering it on.

Re: 'AI washing': firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

#76

Post by runamuck »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #63
halfcat wrote: post #19

There was a line in one of The Walking Dead TV show spin-offs, something like: ”I've known men who inspire fear. Do you know what they have in common? They never say how frightening they are.” And here we are. ”I’ve known companies that work on AI. Do you know what they have in common?...”

The Geto Boys shared a similar sentiment in their song Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta. A genuine gangster doesn't feel a need to flex their power, because such gauche displays only highlight one's own insecurities and weaknesses

I learned about that song from "Office Space!"

Re: 'AI washing': firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

#77

Post by SoftTalker »

bananaflag wrote: post #67
Izkata wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before the iPhone was the iPod, and before the iPod I had an iRiver mp3 player. There was certainly a trend and only Apple's product survived that one.

Because the trend started with the iMac.

i.com was very common during the first dot-com boom. "e" prefixes were also common but I think "i" was more prevalent.

Re: 'AI washing': firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

#78

Post by parineum »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #71
Sharlin wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, that’s not exactly a new thing, it’s just sensitive to the exact phase of the Great AI Freeze/Thaw Cycle. A lot of now-ordinary automation used to be "AI" until it become commonplace and no longer buzzword-worthy and thus no longer regarded as "AI", and/or an AI winter hit. Last time that AI was big before DL it was the "big data" fad and everything had to be big data. Marketing has never not been about h…

I understand why companies try to brand themselves as the latest and greatest tech innovation. What I don't understand is why it works or who falls for it. It's quite trivial to determine whether or not this is e.g. transformer-based AI. I remember in the years before the pandemic that I would joke that all you had to do was "sprinkle in some blockchain" to your VC pitch and your valuation would automatically go up b…

> It's quite trivial to determine whether or not this is e.g. transformer-based AI.

The people who are being marketed to with the AI term don't have any idea what that mean and AI, as a marketing term (the only way it's ever been, so far, commercially used) means a lot more than transformers. My dishwasher has "AI" because it has sensors that can detect where the most dishes are.

The marketing term really just means that the product changes it's behavior without user input. A simple "if...then" is AI.

AI has been used as a marketing term for at least a decade now but LLMs are poisoning the brand because they're, largely, implemented in almost exclusively user hostile ways.

Re: 'AI washing': firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

#80

Post by nish__ »

solenoid0937 wrote: post #2

I'd love to read the mind of an investor that actually falls for this shit. Who actually thinks that Allbirds will see much higher returns because they "have an AI graphics division?" I like AI, but seriously, who actually invests on this basis? Where is the critical thinking? I don't feel sympathy for any investor that gets rug pulled on this stuff.

You might have an investment management firm that has a "tech" portfolio and a separate "clothing" portfolio. By framing themselves as a tech company they'll be put into investors' "tech" portfolio. Clients will say "I think technology is the future; invest in tech companies for me" and the money manager will buy a bunch of shares from the tech portfolio. See how it works?
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