I keep seeing people call basic chatbots 'AI' and it drives me nuts

I was at a tech meetup in Austin last month, and a guy showed off his 'new AI' which was just a script that picked replies from a list. It had zero learning or reasoning. This happens online all the time, where any program with a text box gets labeled AI. It matters because it muddies the water on what real innovation is, like models that can actually understand context or create new things. My own project uses a fine-tuned model from Hugging Face to summarize legal docs, and the difference is night and day. Calling everything AI makes it harder to spot the cool, real stuff. It also sets wrong expectations for what tech can do right now. How do you guys explain the difference to people without sounding like a jerk?

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faith126mo ago

Wait, he called a LIST of replies an AI at a TECH meetup? That's actually wild. I'd have a hard time not laughing out loud. It's like calling a toaster a "smart kitchen robot." The big problem is when people think THAT'S what AI is, they don't get why the real stuff is a big deal. I just say, "If it can't learn or figure something new out on its own, it's just a fancy program. Real AI can actually understand and adapt." It's not being a jerk, it's just the truth.

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miles_campbell396mo ago

Yeah, the "fancy program" thing is spot on. I see it all the time where people call any bit of automation "AI" and it just muddies the water for what's actually changing.

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knight.oscar4mo ago

Wait, someone actually called a list AI at a tech meetup?

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