When you look at some standard AI textbook, such as Russel/Norvig, you see that there is not much about being called „AI“. The simplest „intelligent agents“ are functions with an „if“ statement. The smallest Node.js application has more complexity.

It's a useful tool when examining the impact on moral questions, so much of the talk about the transformative power of AI becomes more clear you give up the pretence that introducing AI creates a new class of moral actor that breaks the conventional chains of responsibility.

A recent example of how people try to use this mystical power of AI to absolve you of responsibility of your actions is how UnitedHealthcare, an organisation largely in the business of suppressing health care to those in need, introduced an atrociously bad "AI" to help them deny applications for coverage.

In that example it is very clear that the "AI" is simply a inert tool used by UHC leadership to provide the pretext they feel is needed to force the line workers to deny more care without the whole thing blowing up because of moral objections.

AI is software and AI is a term as broad and unspecific as "software".