AI Slop and What it Means to Me


Have you heard the term "AI Slop"? Basically it describes what is happening to "content" on the Internet at the moment. With more and more of it being generated by AI. Which is then commented on, by AI. Little by little our timelines and inboxes are being filled with slop.

It sort of looks like interesting, quality content, but more and more it just feels, meh.

Part of the problem is that the bits that used to be hard, like writing, graphic design, and original thinking, are being lost underneath all of this. Because AI, at first glance, seems to do it better than we can.

But, as I am sure you have noticed, once the novelty wears off, it isn't very satisfying is it?

This has created a real dilemma for people like me. While my vocation is coaching, my job is sales and marketing. And part of the way that I do that is to write (create content) for this newsletter, LinkedIn and occasionally other platforms.

In the last couple of years, there has been an arms race in this world. First there were strategies for efficiently managing multiple channels. Then there were systems for maximizing engagement. More recently all of that has been overtaken by AI generated content, which is micro-targeted and instantly generated.

With this latest iteration, the advantage is speed and scale. I could, if I chose to, create a couple of agents, train them on my writing, harvest contact details, produce content, manage sales funnels and generally automate everything. You would still get this email, but it would be written by an AI trying to calculate buying strategies.

I hope, if that happened, you would unsubscribe. Because what would be the point of engaging with that? It would just be more slop. It might make business sense, but it would corrode my soul.

And so, I have been thinking hard about how I might be able to produce something of value in this world of instantly-produced content. I have come to a conclusion.

Rather than seek to produce more and more, faster and faster, I have decided to produce less and less, more and more slowly.

I am going to go back to the source of this newsletter, which was always intended to be personal, useful and reflective of my interests and experiences.

In other words, the opposite of robot content. Human writing.

Which means that, I am going to write to you less frequently and more philosophically. My new promise to you is that I won't generate or write about a single idea that doesn't come from my own brain.

I hope you will enjoy this change of emphasis, that it will serve as a source of interest for you. If it doesn't sound like your kind of thing, hit unsubscribe. No hard feelings, I promise.

Next week I'll send you the first of my weekly newsletters, which will be full of my organizational and philosophical musings. 100% written by me.

But first, I am going on holiday for a week.

Happy Easter,

Stephen

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HeRO Chronicles

For people who want regular personal or professional development advice from a qualified executive coach.

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