DBJ.METHOD
Do not succumb to anthropomorphized “AI” terminology
Preserve the organization’s sanity in presence of relentless AI hype
I found this piece by Emily Bender and Nanna Inie regarding the pervasive issue of anthropomorphizing “AI” terminology. Given DBJ Method focus on deterministic, data-driven systems, I thought this was worth remembering, and using for sane every day communication.
They argue the current industry jargon masks the reality of the tools, and they propose a more precise, functional vocabulary to keep engineering and policy discussions grounded.
Counter the AI Marketing with your own terminology
Good for sober product management and business navigating in the age of AI Readiness.
Key shifts they proposed, and we adopted
Of course not word for word. We are proposing defense by vocabulary, before starting on the next project.
| Instead of | Use something suitable |
|---|---|
| “AI” / “Artificial Intelligence” | Probabilistic automation · Statistical pattern matcher · Machine learning system |
| “Chatbot” / “Agent” | Conversation simulator · Probabilistic, unverified software manipulator · Text-completion service |
| “Hallucination” | Undesirable output · Fabricated output · Statistically plausible error |
| “Neural Networks” | Weighted networks · Parameterized statistical model · Matrix multiplication pipeline |
| “Prompting” | Text input · Query construction · Parameter specification |
Core argument is that we must stop assigning agency to software. Agency resides with the people who build and use the systems; the software itself is merely a tool performing calculations.
It is a useful exercise to strip away the “AI” marketing layer and describe what the system is actually doing. Before incorporating it.
Please make sure to read the original article: https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/how-to-talk-about-ai-without-adding-to-the/
A 19th-century-style engraving (Gustave Doré aesthetic) depicting a chaotic siege or storming of a fortress — a frenzied mob of armed figures clambering over each other, swords and weapons raised, scaling toward a tower under a dark, lightning-streaked sky.
It’s a visual metaphor for the article’s argument — anthropomorphizing AI language is a chaotic, mob-driven assault (marketing hype, loose terminology) storming the fortress of precise, technical thinking. The violence and disorder of the image stand in for the “AI Marketing Avalanche” we do warn against.