Everyone suddenly sells themselves as "AI-native" on LinkedIn
The article criticizes the trend on LinkedIn where professionals rebrand themselves as "AI-native" to appear cutting-edge, often without substantive expertise. It highlights how this buzzword dilution mirrors previous tech fads and questions the authenticity behind such self-promotion.
Background
- "AI-native" is a buzzword that emerged in 2023–2024, modeled on earlier terms like "cloud-native" or "mobile-native." On LinkedIn, professionals now slap it onto their profiles and posts to signal that they use AI tools (ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude) as part of their daily workflow — or to imply they understand AI deeply.
- The term has been cheapened by rapid, widespread adoption for self-promotion, often with little substance behind it. Critics argue it has become a meaningless status marker rather than a descriptor of genuine expertise.
- This mirrors earlier LinkedIn trends where people called themselves "thought leaders," "growth hackers," or "10x engineers" — terms that started with real meaning and quickly became clichés.