UK PRs warn of ‘AI washing’ as low-tech brands demand AI rebrands

TL;DR:

• UK public relations executives told the Guardian that bosses in low-tech industries are routinely demanding to be pitched to journalists as AI companies, prompting what one called “Bikram yoga-level stretches” to manufacture an angle.
• One central London account director estimated about half the AI stories they send out are ones they would rather not send – automation, scanners or unrelated products being relabelled as AI.
• Real examples cited include a US shoe company “pivoting” to acquiring AI GPUs, AI-powered basketball hoops, AI-powered lasers pitched as protecting women on underground platforms, and a handheld floor-plan scanner branded as AI.

The Guardian piece names the soft side of the AI bubble: a marketing pull strong enough to bend product names and corporate narratives in industries with little underlying ML capability. For UK SMEs trying to assess vendors, the practical risk is procurement: AI-branded products that turn out to be lightly enhanced automation tools, sold at AI-tier prices.

A market reaction visible in the inbox

Imran Ariff of London communications agency Fight or Flight told the Guardian some founders “drink their own Kool-Aid” and overplay AI capability. A south London publicist representing tech and design firms said journalists’ eyes “roll” at the word AI, while a global agency PR with NY and London offices described counselling clients away from manufactured AI angles. Stock investors, the Guardian notes, have largely shrugged off AI-bubble jitters – which only sharpens the incentive to manufacture an AI story.

The article ties the marketing phenomenon explicitly to last week’s Standard Chartered episode, where CEO Bill Winters apologised for describing staff losing jobs to AI as “lower-value human capital.” Same underlying force, opposite end: corporate AI narratives that overshoot in optimism (washing) and pessimism (Winters) within a fortnight of each other.

Why this matters for UK businesses

AI washing creates two adjacent procurement risks for UK SMEs. First, vendor due diligence is harder when every category – property tech, retail, fitness, even physical security – contains products marketed as AI with thin underlying capability. Second, internal pressure to be seen as AI-enabled can produce defensive labelling that misrepresents what a product actually does, increasing the gap between purchase expectations and delivered value. The FCA has begun signalling it will scrutinise AI capability claims in financial services; similar pressure is plausible in other regulated sectors.

Looking forward

Expect the term “AI washing” to surface in marketing-trade press as the year progresses, particularly if a major brand is publicly caught overstating capability. For UK SMEs evaluating AI tools, the practical move is to ask vendors for concrete model details (provider, family, fine-tuning, data flows) rather than accept “AI-powered” framing at face value. The London PR account director’s “about 50%” figure is the rough size of the discount that should be applied to incoming AI pitches.