AI Washing: Everything you need to know

AI washing” involves claiming a product employs AI technology when it does not. If vendors continue to AI wash, “AI” will likely become just another buzzword – which will decrease investor and public confidence in the technology.

1. What is AI Washing?

AI washing is a marketing effort wherein vendors claim their offerings involve artificial intelligence (AI) technology when they really don’t or the connection to AI is minimal. Marketing teams engage in AI washing when they embellish their products’ AI capabilities to enhance sales. AI washing is much like “greenwashing,” where a company’s management team makes unsupported, false or misleading claims about the sustainability of its products, services or business operations.

2. Why is AI Washing Bad?

AI washing is harmful because it has the potential to turn artificial intelligence into just a meaningless buzzword. This would damage user and investor trust in the technology because those who fall victim to AI washing may not be as willing to purchase and adopt or invest in real AI technology in the future.

3. Why do companies engage in AI Washing?

3.1 They want to fund

Investors are always chasing the hottest trends, and AI-enabled technology fits the bill. As such, investors are all looking for AI-enabled projects to back. That means technology startups, in particular, have the incentive to AI wash because it makes it much easier to get investor funding. https://growntechnology.com/an-introduction-to-application-software/

3.2 They’re stalling for time

Some organizations that engage in AI washing really intend to offer AI products and/or services. However, they haven’t arrived at that point quite yet, so they act as if their products or services already include AI functionality.

3.3 They don’t know what AI means

Even though artificial intelligence has tremendous potential, organizations still don’t fully understand it and often misrepresent it. Since AI is a broad term encompassing a variety of tools, it can be difficult for organizations to determine what actually comprises AI and what doesn’t. Enterprises straddling the line between old and new technology may be a bit confused, and as such, they often err on the side of AI.

4. How to avoid vendors engaging in AI Washing

4.1 Employee expertise

Potential customers need to ensure their vendors’ employees have extensive backgrounds and education in artificial intelligence and deep learning. Vendors touting their AI products and/or services need to employ mathematicians, architects, data scientists and engineers. These are the employees who devise the models and teach the machines to understand various scenarios, plan future actions, forecast their effects and learn from the results.

4.2 The data

AI-based solutions need massive amounts of data to perform accurately. So potential clients need to look at how much data IT vendors are collecting and ensure that they’re collecting that data from multiple sources.

4.3 Be sure the AI gets smarter over time

True artificial intelligence gets smarter over time. Therefore, prospective customers should ask vendors to explain how their AI software gets smarter and what decisions the AI can make. Companies should also ask vendors how much human interaction is needed and if the AI can complement human employees’ work. Working together, AI and humans can accomplish more than working separately. If the vendors can’t fully answer those questions, they’re likely engaging in AI washing.

4.3 Ask the right questions

Buyers should approach self-proclaimed AI vendors with a healthy dose of scepticism. Assume they’re not providing AI products or services and leave it up to the vendors to prove they are. Potential customers should ask vendors what specific artificial intelligence technologies they’re using and how they plan to stay up-to-date with developing AI tech.

5. How to avoid AI Washing

More and more startups and established vendors describe themselves as “AI vendors” and claim to offer AI products and services without explaining how their offerings differ from the thousands of others on the market, which only serves to confuse end-user companies. To build trust with these buyers, vendors should build collections of case studies that provide quantifiable results their customers have achieved using artificial intelligence. Additionally, it’s critical for these vendors to use “AI” accurately in their sales and marketing materials, clearly explain what differentiates their AI offering from its competitors’ offerings and outline exactly which problems it’s AI solves for customers. https://www.techopedia.com/cissip-cism-cisa-whats-the-difference-between-security-certification/2/34861

Although artificial intelligence is shaping the future of work across virtually every industry, the hype around the technology can be dangerous. If vendors continue to misuse the term “AI,” it will likely become just another largely ignored marketing buzzword. And if vendors continue AI washing, investors will likely stop financing the technology, the faith of the public in artificial intelligence will disappear and the entire industry will suffer.

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