"That's So AI" Is Now an Insult, Courtesy of Gen Alpha
The Guardian reported on September 24 that "That's so AI" has become a go-to put-down among Gen Alpha, used whether or not any AI was actually involved. The story was shared on Hacker News, where it drew 50 points and 33 comments.
British daily The Guardian published a story on September 24, 2026 about “That’s so AI” emerging as a signature insult among Gen Alpha (broadly, the generation born from the 2010s onward). The phrase gets used regardless of whether the target actually used AI. It is slang for putting someone or something down by dismissing it as fake, overblown, or just an excuse.
The article was also shared on Hacker News, the community popular with developers and tech industry readers. It picked up 50 points and 33 comments.
What stands out is how the word “AI” is being deployed here. AI tools have moved quickly into work and study. And yet the generation that will spend the longest stretch of their lives using those tools is turning “so AI” into a way to belittle someone. The fact that the word is drifting toward meaning “not the real thing” offers a hint of how this generation actually feels about AI.
The thing to watch is whether the phrase stays confined to peer-group slang or spreads more widely. It will also be worth seeing whether a similar expression takes hold in Korea.