The problem with bad AI-generated work ('slop') isn't just poor writing. It's that subtle inaccuracies or context loss can derail meetings and create long, energy-wasting debates. This cognitive overload makes it difficult for teams to sense-make and ultimately costs more in human time than it saves.

Using AI to generate content without adding human context simply transfers the intellectual effort to the recipient. This creates rework, confusion, and can damage professional relationships, explaining the low ROI seen in many AI initiatives.

The users who gain the most from AI tools are either deep domain experts who can guide the AI with precision or complete novices unhampered by previous knowledge. Those with intermediate-level skills often get stuck, as they lack the expertise to direct the AI effectively or the naivety to experiment freely.

AI enables rapid book creation by generating chapters and citing sources. This creates a new problem: authors can produce works on complex topics without ever reading the source material or developing deep understanding. This "AI slop" presents a veneer of expertise that lacks the genuine, ingested knowledge of its human creator.

While AI can "polish" work, it cannot be used well by someone who doesn't already know what good looks like. For students who have only ever used AI, they lack the foundational judgment to guide the tool or recognize its flaws, leading to superficially polished but poor quality output.

The main barrier to AI's impact is not its technical flaws but the fact that most organizations don't understand what it can actually do. Advanced features like 'deep research' and reasoning models remain unused by over 95% of professionals, leaving immense potential and competitive advantage untapped.

AI accelerates data retrieval, but it creates a dangerous knowledge gap. Junior employees can find facts (e.g., in a financial statement) without the experience-based judgment to understand their deeper connections and second-order consequences for the business.

Don't use AI to generate generic thought leadership, which often just regurgitates existing content. The real power is using AI as a 'steroid' for your own ideas. Architect the core content yourself, then use AI to turbocharge research and data integration to make it 10x better.

Professionals are using AI to write detailed reports, while their managers use AI to summarize them. This creates a feedback loop where AI generates content for other AIs to consume, with humans acting merely as conduits. This "AI slop" replaces deep thought with inefficient, automated communication.