Why Workslop Misses the Point on AI at Work
AI-generated workslop might be an issue, but the real performance gains are being drastically understated.
AI is the great equalizer. It takes F or D level work and pushes it up to a C or even B. For recruiters and managers, that changes the signals they used to rely on. Spelling mistakes, awkward phrasing, or obvious gaps in formatting once made it easy to weed out weak candidates. AI erases those clues. Just like phishing training that teaches us to look for typos and clunky wording, the cues we’ve built BS detectors around no longer apply. Slop is moving further up the pipeline than it once did.
But the productivity gains from AI are still understated. As Ethan Mollick has pointed out, there is a growing stigma around admitting how much experts use AI. Spot an unusual phrasing or a certain punctuation mark and some people instantly dismiss the work as machine-made. That pushes AI use underground. People draft in personal tools or resort to shadow IT so they can get the benefit without the stigma. The final product looks like a polished draft, but few admit how much of it came from working alongside AI.
The reality is more people are using AI than want to own it. These tools do not replace critical thinking or fill in gaps of real experience. They are exponentially more valuable in the hands of someone who knows their domain than someone who does not. Training people to use AI to expand their value, not as a magical crutch, is the difference between slop and real output.
