Tech companies are dreadful at naming products. ChatGPT 5.4 is the most popular consumer LLM. Then there’s Claude 4.6 Thinking. Grok 4.1 even sounds vaguely sinister, before the Elon haters get started.

Product releases come with details of token context windows and performance against benchmarks such as TPS (tokens per second), TTFT (time to first token), and TPOT (time per output token). As in any industry, make sure you understand the jargon if you want a job. But don’t use that jargon in marketing material.

The first rule of selling is to focus on what the buyer wants. What outcome will they get, what is the financial benefit, and how will it make them feel? You don’t win people over by reading them your product catalogue.

The numbers in the names of LLMs project a sci-fi image accompanied by terms such as augmentation and non-linear scaling. Who’s up for being augmented? Can’t we just say save time and money? It’s little wonder people hate AI.

67% of people believe AI will lead to significant job losses in their country¹. 59% of adults view AI as a primary risk to national security². Only 16% of UK businesses have fully integrated AI technologies as of early 2026, largely due to fears over ethical liability and backlash over job losses³. This is technology⁴ in need of a little love.

Last week Rex Woodbury wrote an excellent article entitled “Why does everyone hate AI?” He documented TikTok users calling for AI to be banned, along with people proudly posting that they refuse to use it. He included a fascinating chart about attitudes towards social media, suggesting these are likely to be the same for AI.

If you are in a poorer or authoritarian country, technology is a liberating force. If you are in a democracy you may feel the opposite. This suggests that 21^st century technology is collapsing the structure of society, wherever you live. It’s often said that LLMs churn out the average answer, but might they also bring about a reversion to the mean in political systems?

Woodbury’s advice for how to deal with resistance to AI is as old as the hills. But it bears repeating because the message is missing its mark in Silicon Valley. These are marketing lessons that apply to every business, at every stage of development.

1.      Put the customer first and sell the outcome. The best outcome is a big change. Woodbury suggests AI marketing might focus on how it can find a cure for cancer. It can do many other things, but the message is go big, stay focused, and hammer it home.

2.      Then talk about pain rather than capability. Be specific. Your file organiser can declutter an email inbox. Almost twice as many people use AI for drafting and summarising email as use it for organising it⁵. There’s your market right there.

3.      You should be using clients as advocates. Case studies and testimonials are among the best sales tools you have. In effect, your message comes from someone else’s mouth.

4.      Then we have staff training. If people are concerned about what technology means for them, then show them how it improves their lives. Show not tell, with workshops and hands-on practical examples. Teach people how to use AI.

5.      Finally, remember those incentives. Offer a prize for the best human use of AI. Tech companies like MSBC run hackathons all the time. We find some of our best talent at these gatherings. Why not have a competition to see who can make the best use of AI in marketing, customer support, or financial administration? You may discover your next big business idea.

The main reason why AI companies, especially the large labs, talk about performance is because they are trying to attract funding. These are fast-growing but loss-making companies where the first priority is to be in business next year. This means attracting top talent, providing them with compute and launching regular upgrades. Maybe things move too fast to have focus groups pick over potential product names.

Yet this business model works in very few places outside Silicon Valley. There is not an endless amount of money available to prop up your business. You need to generate cash and turn a profit, often from early in your journey.

The best way to do this is to give customers what they want. That means asking them. Have your marketing materials tell potential clients what they will get and why it will help. A name that carries this message lands best. EasyJet anyone?

Discuss your clients’ problems when you meet them. Don’t interrupt in your enthusiasm to sell a solution. The real pain will be revealed when they relax and trust you.

Successful sales come when your product is easy to adopt. It should fit into existing routines and work with available technology. AI is a new technology and promises to disrupt almost every workflow. Little wonder so many people are scared of the consequences of using it.

AI could do with better marketing, and that’s true for almost every business.