IMO I can't be too mad at Haley's connection to AI, and it seems Haley has credited AI freely as an acknowledgement of the leg up she's been given.
Alot of the time, these type of comments are so over the top wrong, that it reveals more about the validity of the author than the subject of the comment.
I don't think I may ever have heard of Haley if I didn't happen to take an interest in James or Lauren during the competition. I didn't take an interest in AI at all other than S1 and Blake Lewis' season (From Bothell). If it wasn't for AI I would never have gotten on the Haley train at all these last two years.
She will have to separate herself from it eventually, but I can't hate on the AI label too much, personally, because without them, I would never have known anything about Haley Reinhart.
Kelly and Carrie have reached a level that they are known separate from AI, yet they still return to help AI along by bringing their star power back to the show.