The AI Agent Buzzword Boom and Corporate Rebranding

Companies are increasingly labeling AI tools as 'agents'—a fuzzy buzzword that has become a magnet for corporate rebranding in the AI gold rush. John Herrman of Intelligencer examines how firms like Grammarly, OpenAI, and Google are stretching the term to fit anything from basic writing assistants to autonomous AI systems.

What Is an AI Agent, Anyway?

Definitions vary:

• OpenAI calls agentic AI "systems that can pursue complex goals with limited direct supervision."
• Google describes them as "software that uses AI to complete tasks on behalf of users."

But in practice, the term is often applied loosely. Grammarly, for instance, recently announced nine new 'agents' in its software—including an AI Grader that allegedly predicts assignment grades by "reviewing public teaching info." Critics like Harvard's Jane Rosenzweig found the tool lacking in value. Other Grammarly 'agents,' like a proofreader or paraphraser, barely differ from the company's pre-existing features.

The Corporate Bandwagon

The AI industry’s pitch for agents often involves futuristic promises—like Sam Altman’s vision of AI 'joining the workforce.' Yet today, the term is slapped onto:

• Coding tools (e.g., Devin, which builds software autonomously).
• Customer service chatbots (rebranded as 'agents').
• Even Walmart’s shopping assistant Sparky, which has existed for years but is now suddenly 'agentic.'

A Gartner report predicts 40% of 'agentic AI' projects will fail by 2027, citing widespread 'agent washing'—rebranding old tools like chatbots as cutting-edge AI.

The Bottom Line

The buzzword is expanding to describe almost any software, from drive-thru robots to Google’s dinner-reservation feature. Whether this reflects real innovation or just marketing hype remains unclear—but as Herrman notes, no company wants to be caught releasing mere 'apps' in 2025. In Silicon Valley’s lexicon, the future belongs to 'little guys in the computer.'