These Days, Everything Is 'Powered By AI.' Here's How to Tell Hype From Real Innovation. Don't fall for buzzy trends. Make sure the products you're using are actually using the latest tech.

Today's tech market is inundated with products that claim to be powered by artificial intelligence. Some are, but some aren't, and it can be hard to differentiate legitimate AI from existing tools hiding behind trendy buzzwords and higher prices.

A big issue is the term "artificial intelligence" itself — it's both poorly defined and encompasses a huge number of subfields. Rather than wasting time debating the true meaning of AI, the best way to spot marketing hype is to understand what modern AI models can do, and what they can't.

To start, you'll need to know whether an AI product falls into one of two common categories: those based on traditional machine learning (ML) and those using newer generative AI (GenAI) models. There are other categories like robotics and computer vision, but you're less likely to find those in commercially available tools — if you need a robot, you're talking to an expert.