AI Washing, the New Obsession of Companies: Everyone Wants to Look Tech

British companies are pushing their press offices to present themselves as AI entities even when they are using only traditional automation or already mature technologies. The phenomenon, defined as AI washing, emerges from a series of testimonies collected from the PR sector and illustrates how the brand 'AI' has become a commercial passport.

According to the communicators interviewed, many low-tech companies today claim to be described as AI-focused businesses, hoping to attract more attention from newspapers and investors. The problem, they explain, is that the term is being attached even to products that remain automation tools, but with an AI component that is marginal or entirely accessory.

The most recurrent case is that of tools executing functions that have been known for a long time, such as scanning, classification, or layout generation, but are being rebranded as AI solutions to intercept the hype cycle. PR professionals report persistent demands from managers who want to include 'AI' in the product name or in every possible press release, even when the technical link does not hold.

In a report from the Guardian, some agencies go so far as to reject half of the proposals they receive on this front, deemed forced or not credible. This dynamic does not only concern startups or smaller brands: even companies with repositioning ambitions seek to associate themselves with AI to appear more current and appealing in the media landscape.

Those working in public relations describe a constant pressure to build an AI narrative even where there is no real AI product. In some cases, the work of these professionals results in convincing the client that an algorithm or an automated flow is not enough to talk about artificial intelligence, as journalists have developed a sensitivity towards the abuse of the term.

The result is an increasingly inflated lexicon: 'AI-driven', 'AI-powered', 'AI-specialist', and similar phrases appear in pitches and press releases with growing frequency. For press officers, the risk is twofold: on one hand, credibility is lost; on the other hand, confusion is fueled, making it more difficult to distinguish true AI products from mere marketing operations.

The race for AI branding comes as large groups and publicly listed companies are recalibrating their public image around automation and staff cuts related to the use of AI. In this context, language no longer merely serves to describe a product but becomes part of the strategy to position the entire company in a market where the AI label now weighs as much as the product itself.