I think everyone is aware of AI slop these days or has at least dealt with it. It is that hot garbage that someone quickly creates that sounds great but really has very little substance or is poor quality.
I personally think it’s great that folks are using AI all over the place. AI is a massive enabler for society. However, what isn’t great is when folks let that ease also let them do things poorly… and then they put their name on it. Your name on poor quality work can seriously damage your personal brand.
This recent article from HBR about AI slop is worth a read; you can sign up for free to get it:
To get right to the bit on just how damaging slop is to your reputation, you can check out the BetterUp survey results that they reference. It is unsurprisingly brutal. If you get caught putting your name on slop, you basically have burned a bridge.
None of that is shocking. If you put your name on something that sucks, especially if it is for work, ya, your coworkers aren’t going to be happy about it. You’ve successfully made your problem their problem. That doesn’t have anything to do with AI. AI just makes it easier.
Your work feeds your brand
I really like Arnold’s Sell, Sell, Sell chapter in his book Be Useful; I love that book, which is why I keep blogging about it. That one talks about more than just managing your personal brand but I think it is relevant here too. He really drives home the point that you have to be actively involved in advocating for things you want others to know about; you can’t just wish it into being. That means developing your personal brand is just part of the work.
A personal brand isn’t limited to your professional life. It is composed of all the things you want people to know about you. So that doesn’t mean everything; just the parts you’re proud of. The other parts are still important but they aren’t necessarily part of what showcases you. You aren’t hiding anything or misleading folks. You’re just not distracting them.
Your brand is one of the most valuable things to build in your career. A solid one is built from what you do consistently. No matter what you say, it does come down to what you have done and what you are doing; it can be anything. What you do and how you are doing it forms the foundation of your brand. That is the substance that your brand stands on.
So when you use AI to create a bunch of slop and stick your name on it… ya, you are doing a number on your brand.
You still have to own the work
Work work work; my favorite chapter. There is no escaping it. If your name is on it, then you own it, especially the quality. There is no outsourcing to AI.
Of course, I think we should all be using AI. It is how you work with it and how you maintain ownership over that work that is key. That does mean when you are using AI, you have to change the ways you normally do that work. It is very common to think about what you need to do as a series of steps, like an assembly line. One step after another, adding more and more to the end product until it is done. Here is where things can go wrong with AI; any step you give AI in that assembly line it will own. When it owns a step, you will have lost some of that ownership in the end product.
To keep ownership over the work, all the steps, you got to give up the assembly line. Go back to the model of being a craftsman and have AI be your workshop assistant. In the craftsman model, it is more than just having ownership over each step; you are focusing on doing each one well, striving to do it better than before. You can work with your AI workshop assistant on each step by converting them into iterative loops where you go over each detail making adjustments until you are happy. In my last article, I talk about these loops that I use in my personal writing.
In a well designed loop, you’re contributing the core content: the thinking; the creative decisions; and the judgment which ultimately pushes the quality. The AI is reviewing, identifying issues, and finding gaps. It is challenging your thinking and recommending possible adjustments and additions.
This is a different way of working because you no longer have a sequential flow. Rather, you are now iterating as you go. AI is helping you think more deeply about what you are creating; helping you obsess over the details. Push the limits.
A return to craftsmanship
I really do believe that AI is the great enabler of our time. I believe in craftsmanship. Whatever it is that you do, you should do it to the best of your abilities; strive to master it. When people are mastering their craft, most of the time it isn’t about speed. It is about quality. It is about hitting a new level; constantly looking to do things better. That is what I find is so valuable about AI. You are able to iterate so much faster with it; going over and over each little detail until you are satisfied.
We are all using AI more and more; at work, at home. It is part of our everyday lives now. Sure, there are lots of times where people will just ask AI to do something because it is easy to get something that is ok. But just how valuable is that thing to you? Are you ok with just ok? When it comes to the things that are truly important to you, when you care a lot about the end result, ok isn’t going to cut it.
As a craftsperson where you take a lot of pride in your work, look at how you can add iterative loops with AI to help you scrutinize those details. AI isn’t doing the work; you are. It is just helping you collect, organize, and refine your ideas, your thinking. With each loop, you go deeper with those ideas and thoughts. See how deep you can go and if you can hit a new level you haven’t before.
AI gives us the opportunity to abandon our assembly lines and to go back to being craftspeople where we can take pride in our work. Be proud of your craft.
