from the markets-can-remain-irrational-longer-than-you-can-remain-solvent dept.
UK companies are performing "yoga-level" stretches to describe themselves as AI specialists in an attempt to capitalise on the buzz around the technology, public relations firms have said.
Weary communications executives tasked with securing media coverage for brands have complained that bosses in low-tech industries or running businesses that use automation but not generative AI, are increasingly demanding they are pitched to journalists as artificial intelligence companies.
"You can almost hear the eyes roll when you mention the word AI to a reporter," said a publicist in south London who represents a portfolio of tech and design firms. "I've watched a steady stream of companies try to bolt the label AI on to whatever they do, no matter how tenuous the link."
Imran Ariff, a media strategist for Fight or Flight, a London-based communications agency, said: "It can be easy for brands to 'drink their own Kool-Aid' when they're so proud of what they're doing and consequently, go too far in their efforts to promote their AI capabilities."
Last month, the US shoe company AllBirds "pivoted" to to acquiring AI graphics processing units, while genetics companies have hyped AI-powered blood tests. In inboxes this month, there have been press releases about AI-powered basketball hoops, and AI-powered lasers that – somehow – protect women from predators on crowded underground platforms.
Some companies have been accused of "AI washing", trying to rebrand familiar, often years-old, technologies as "AI".
Technology PRs – whose job it is to send tens, or hundreds, of pitches to journalists each week, the vast majority of which get ignored – have complained about being forced to send out AI-related press releases under duress despite their industries' image for unscrupulously hyping up products.
"A lot of companies are trying to name every single product with 'AI' first, or trying to get 'AI' into an actual product name," said an account director at another firm, based in central London.
"People are littering marketing with how AI is making a difference. It's an 'AI-driven' or 'AI-powered' product when in reality, it's just better automation than we've seen before."
[...] Communications workers also said that bosses were asked to be presented as commentators on the technology to appear relevant.
"I have seen some Bikram yoga-level stretches by brands in service of trying to manufacture reasons to talk about AI," said a PR working for a global agency with offices in New York and London.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31, @03:16AM
Yeah, it brings in more "investment", like when the hospitals claimed a stubbed toe was Covid to get some extra money from the government. Everybody plays the same game the same way.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday May 31, @03:24AM
When you get rando remoras latching on to the business fad du jour, that is to me a sign of late stage bubble. It means even peripheral parties see opportunity for exploitation. There has to be a heady blend of low information investors and industry-wide risk blindness, in other words: food, to pull these guys in.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31, @03:30AM
The last time around it was "blockchain" -- remember all the ridiculous claims for products that used that? I seem to have blocked out the one before that, but my "grad student" Gemini came up with a short list when I prompted,
> The hype currently is "AI" added to all sorts of things that don't actually use it. Before that was "block chain". Please list some more targets of silly hype through history.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Sunday May 31, @04:12AM (1 child)
My understanding of yoga is that you're supposed to put your body into a particular pose, and then a) only let gravity pull on the body parts and b) mentally focus on releasing/relaxing any tendons/muscles that pull taut. In the process of doing that, it should gently restore elasticity/build tone to those muscles.
Try to force it, and you're doing it incorrectly and you'll sprain something. So I figure we should start seeing that in the cryptocurrency web 2.0 pretty soon.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31, @04:21AM
No surprise here, the PR flacks are misrepresenting both "AI" and "Bikram yoga"!
(Score: 2) by Ingar on Sunday May 31, @07:09AM
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(Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Sunday May 31, @07:42AM (4 children)
Still looking to get with a $100 dollar ground floor investment in that AgriMechanicEngineElectricAtomiCompuNetworkCryptoAI startup. The returns would be worth trillions over time!
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday May 31, @03:09PM (1 child)
If you add another AI to the start of that, I'M IN!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Friday June 12, @08:43AM
AIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAgriMechanicEngineElectricAtomiCompuNetworkCryptoAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAI
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31, @05:48PM (1 child)
Well yeah, the last bubble generated about 30 - 45 trillion in bailouts. This one should produce at least as much.
(Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Friday June 12, @08:55AM
wow!
(Score: 2) by arslan on Tuesday June 02, @06:05AM
Here in Oz, "AI washing" is when an organization hits the new cycle claiming they, the executives/board, will have massive workforce downsizing because "AI" have made then more efficient.
The "washing" part is because they're hiding the fact that the downsizing root cause is because they either have poor results due to poor leadership or copping massive fines (*banks) due to shenanigans.
I mean if AI indeed makes an organization more efficient, that just means they can take on more from their never ending backlog of work right? I mean I've never worked for a company that runs out of work to do... unless they're shutting down shop.