The "AI" Label Is Losing Its Meaning, and Companies Are the Ones Diluting It

Posted on May 24, 2026

5 min read

Every product in 2026 is "AI-powered." Your toothbrush is AI-powered. Your coffee maker is AI-powered. The spreadsheet app you have been using for ten years just got a rebrand, and now it is "AI-powered" too. Nothing changed except the logo and a press release.

I have been watching this happen for two years now, and I think we have reached a tipping point. The word "AI" has been stretched so thin by marketing departments that it is starting to mean absolutely nothing to the average person.

And the companies doing the stretching are not scrappy startups trying to get attention. They are some of the biggest names in tech.