AI isn't "hallucinating" — it's making stuff up. It's not "alignment" — it's control. The tech industry is dressing up problems with cuddly language, and it's time we dropped the marketing spin and talked straight about what AI really is and does.

## What the Hell Is an AI Euphemism?

Euphemisms are polite ways of saying uncomfortable things. You say someone “passed away” instead of “died.” But in AI, euphemisms aren’t just about being polite — they’re a PR strategy, a smoke screen, a way to deflect hard questions.

Let’s look at some real classics:

- **“Hallucination”** – Makes it sound like the model’s just on a little acid trip. In reality, your model just **fabricated data** with full confidence.
- **“Alignment”** – Sounds like you're tuning chakras. In practice, it’s the billion-dollar challenge of **controlling** systems that are too complex to fully understand.
- **“Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)”** – Sounds like a distant sci-fi dream. But we use it to _avoid_ talking about what’s being done _today_ with very powerful, unaccountable narrow AI.
- **“Autonomous”** – Used for everything from Teslas to weaponized drones. But no system is truly autonomous — it’s just **automated with parameters set by humans**, and often poorly at that.
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## Why It Matters

Words shape perception. If the public thinks AI is "hallucinating," they forgive its nonsense like it’s cute or quirky. If we call it "lying," suddenly it’s unacceptable. Euphemisms help Big Tech soften the blow of AI’s real-world failures and risks — from bias to surveillance to job displacement.

**Language is the first layer of accountability.** When we sugarcoat AI’s limitations or dangers, we also delay regulation, ethical reflection, and public understanding.

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## The Real Danger: Misdirection

Every time we let companies say AI “hallucinates,” we take the heat off them for building models that produce garbage. Every time we talk about "alignment" like it's a feel-good process, we forget that it's mostly about **who gets to decide what an AI system should or shouldn't do**.

The euphemisms serve to sanitize the power dynamics. They frame AI as neutral tech with human-like quirks instead of what it is: a high-stakes, centralized, often experimental system shaping lives, policy, and markets.

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## Time for Straight Talk

We need to ditch the flowery language. Say it like it is:

- **“Hallucination” → “False or fabricated output”**
- **“Alignment” → “Control and constraint mechanisms”**
- **“Autonomous” → “Automated system with human oversight”**
- **“Model drift” → “Performance degradation over time due to changing data”**
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It’s not as sexy. But it’s honest. And right now, **honesty is more radical than hype** in AI.

Daniel Muringe

Daniel Muringe

My Blog