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   First, AI flooded the internet with slop, now it's destroying work, too  this   
   is how you use AI and still be a stellar employee   
      
   Date:   
   Thu, 25 Sep 2025 15:30:00 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   AI workslop is overrunning the workplace, and we need to do something about    
   it  fast.   
      
   FULL STORY   
   ======================================================================   
      
   If there's one thing we can depend on AI for, it's to prove time and time   
   again that you can't simply replace human effort with technology. A new   
   Harvard Business Review and Stanford  Media Lab study found that "workslop"    
   is overrunning business and, in the process, ruining work and reputations.    
      
   If workslop sounds familiar, that's because it's a cousin to AI slop . The   
   latter is all over the internet and characterized by bad art, poor writing,   
   six-fingered videos, and auto-tuned-sounding music.    
      
   Workslop, according to HBR, is " AI generated work content that masquerades    
   as good work, but lacks the substance to meaningfully advance a given task ."    
      
   Because we're living on AI Time and everything in technology (and life)    
   seems, thanks to generative AI, to be happening at three times its normal   
   pace, we suddenly have Large Language Model (LLM)-driven AI in every corner    
   of our lives.    
      
   Generative platforms like Gemini , Copilot , Claude , and ChatGPT live on our   
   phones, and while Google search still far outstrips ChatGPT as a tool for   
   basic search results, more and more people are turning to ChatGPT when they   
   want deeper, richer, and theoretically more useful answers.    
      
   That trend continues in the workplace, where, seemingly overnight, tools like   
   Gemini and Copilot are embedded in productivity apps like Gmail and Microsoft   
   Word.    
      
   They're capable of generating: Summaries Reports Presentations Redsearch   
   Coding Graphics    
      
   And it's clear from this report that there has been a quick and broad embrace   
   of these tools for these and many other office tasks. In fact, workers might   
   be squeezing a little too tight.    
      
   In the study, 40% of respondents reported receiving workslop, and they're    
   none too happy about it. They report being confused and even offended.    
      
   Even worse, workslop is changing how they view coworkers.    
      
   The problem with workslop is that while it appears to be complete and   
   high-quality work, it is often not. AI can still produce errors and   
   hallucinations. OpenAI's GPT-5 model is the first major update to address the   
   hallucination issue, stopping ChatGPT from filling in the blanks with   
   guesswork when it doesn't know something. Still, it and other AIs are not   
   perfect.    
      
   The work is often weirdly cookie-cutter, in that these are still programs   
   (highly complex ones) that rely on a handful of go-to terms like "delve",   
   "pivotal", "realm", and "underscore."    
      
   It's not clear if the workers using AI to build reports and projects    
   recognize this, but their coworkers and managers appear to be aware, and    
   let's just say that the workers' next performance evaluations may not be   
   recognizing them for "originality."   
      
   A bad look    
      
   According to the report, peers perceive that AI-work-product-delivering   
   coworkers as less capable, reliable, and trustworthy. They also think they're   
   less creative and intelligent.    
      
   Now, that seems a bit unfair. After all, it does take some effort to create a   
   prompt or series of prompts that will result in a finished project.    
      
   Still, the reaction to this workslop indicates that people are not    
   necessarily curating the work. Instead of a series of prompts delivered to    
   the AI to create some output, they might be plugging in one prompt, seeing    
   the results, and deciding, "That's good enough."    
      
   The cycle of unhappiness continues when managers and peers report this   
   workslop to their managers. It's a bad look all around, especially if the   
   workslop makes it out of a company and into a client's hands.   
      
   What's been lost in this rush to use generative AI as a workplace tool is    
   that it was never intended to replace us or, more specifically, our brains.   
   The best work comes from our creative spark and deep knowledge of context,    
   two things AI decidedly lacks.    
      
   When I asked ChatGPT, "Do you think it's a good idea for me to ask you to do   
   work for me and then for me to present it to my boss?" it did a decent job of   
   putting the issue in perspective.    
      
   Mostly, ChatGPT discussed how it can help in research and outlining the first   
   version of a project, being a time saver to cut down on repetitive tasks, and   
   helping me generate fresh ideas.    
      
   It warned me, however, about Originality & Attribution Accuracy Ethics and   
   Expectations    
      
   It was almost as if ChatGPT had already read the HBR study. Even it knows   
   workslop is bad.    
      
   How do we avoid workslop?    
      
   HBR had some ideas, and I think it's pretty simple. Remind everyone that AI    
   is not the answer to every problem.    
      
   Ensure that everyone knows when it's best to use AI and understands what   
   should happen to the AI output, i.e., editing, fact-checking, shaping, or   
   rewriting.    
      
   Start viewing AI as a very smart assistant, not as another, smarter version    
   of yourself.    
      
   Insist on more in-person meetings and direct collaboration. Reembrace the   
   beauty of a brainstorm.    
      
   Workslop, like AI slop before it, will surely get worse before it gets    
   better, and there is a real chance that we may soon no longer know the   
   difference between original human work and AI-generated projects, but I hope   
   that day never comes. We can figure this out. Even ChatGPT knows the answer:    
      
    "Think of me as your co-writer or research assistant , not a ghostwriter.   
   Take what I give you, refine it, make sure its in your voice, and add your   
   personal expertise. That way, youre delivering something polished but still   
   authentically yours."   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/first-ai-flooded-the-interne   
   t-with-slop-now-its-destroying-work-too-this-is-how-you-use-ai-and-still-be-a-   
   stellar-employee   
      
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