This is a very convoluted subject. In general, before ChatGPT, investors would define whether a company was ‘AI’ based on how deep their proprietary models were. In other words, deep learning vs. traditional machine learning was the defining factor. You could argue this isn’t AI in its true form, but by that account, NO COMPANY that I’ve come across is doing ‘true AI.’ Apps like ChatGPT that utilize generative adversarial networks are not AI either by that definition. OpenAI didn’t invent anything. They trained the largest dataset the world has ever seen, but using pre-existing technology. So posing a question back to the op, what does a company have to do to be considered legitimate AI in your opinion? Until we have a universally accepted answer to that question, I don’t see it backfiring on anyone unless you’re just a GPT wrapper or API aggregator.
You didn’t specify what you need the software for. Each tool addresses slightly different needs for cold outreach. The best cold outreach tool for finding contacts is ZoomInfo as they have the largest database on the market, but they know they have a monopoly and charge about $20K per year for it. Hubspot is the superior cold outreach email campaign management tool by far and is also the industry standard. Tools like FreshWorks and Apollo have similar functions but are not as renowned.