Is AI the new Greenwashing?

AI this. AI that.

Everywhere you look, you’ll see technology companies touting AI as part of their offering. AI-powered, AI-enabled, and AI-capable, are the latest buzzwords filling up feeds and inboxes. It seems like everywhere you look, a company is developing some type of AI solution. Much like the greenwashing era of “eco-conscious” everything, it feels as though we’re moving into the age of AI-washing.

AI has become the new golden child of technological innovation, but what actually qualifies as Artificial Intelligence and what is just marketing fluff?

What is AI?

Google will tell you that Artificial Intelligence refers to “the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.” The problem with that definition? It was created in the 1950’s.

At face value, it seems to align with our perceptions of AI today, but by that definition, any computer technology that performs a task as well as a human can be classified as artificial intelligence. That broad definition allows many companies to boast about the use of AI, when it may not align with the reality of what AI has become today.

A more modern way to think about AI is defining it as a system capable of learning, reasoning, and acting intelligently, based on user input or independently. It is not traditional software that is programmed for a specific set of tasks and inputs, incapable of processing anything out of the norm.

AI can take in the unknown, understand it according to its vast knowledge and data sets, and then act on that data logically. The more it knows, the more powerful it becomes, and we are just scratching the surface!

Common Tools Mistaken for AI

Defined Workflow Automations: In recent years, many software companies have integrated workflow tools that help visualize and create various process automations. Though these automations are incredibly efficient and helpful, technically they aren’t intelligent. These workflows require the user to create the process map the software will follow, but it does not learn or act outside of the user inputs, therefore this is not AI.

Microsoft Excel: Although a powerful tool, those little cells aren’t smart AI, the person who programmed the formulas is. Unless you integrate CoPilot into your worksheets, Excel is powerful, but not intelligent.

Calculators: Those online calculators for equipment ROI, anilox volume, etc. have become popular in industrial print marketing. These are helpful tools that rely on computation, not intelligence to adapt, learn, or improve.

Automated emails: These rely on rules defined by the user, and don’t predict or optimize without manual input. Lately, there are smart tools that are automatically qualifying or disqualifying leads based on individual response intent, which is smart. We predict email will grow in their AI capabilities, but the automations that exist today are technically not AI.

Website chatbots: These are typically created using FAQ’s and a basic decision tree, not conversational AI. They struggle with random chat inputs and usually create conversation through standardized questions and data entry.

Remember just because a tool feels smart doesn’t mean it’s AI. True AI systems involve learning, adaptation, and decisions based on data, while imposters are usually just following a very well-thought-out script or workflow.

AI vs. Automation vs. Algorithms

·         Automation follows pre-set rules and workflows

·         Algorithms are formulas that sort and filter data

·         AI learns, adapts, and makes decisions based on data over time

Outcomes > Buzzwords

As AI becomes the industry’s favorite marketing buzzword, users will need to ask themselves: What does this tool actually do? Does it require a lot of input from your team, or will it free up your workload with its own intelligence? Educating yourself on AI will help you see through the AI-washing clutter and find the right smart tools for your business.

Ultimately, what matters is how well the software produces the desired outcome for you and your team—not the level of AI technology behind the scenes.

Need help making sense of AI for your business? Contact us, our humans are here to help.