A Manifesto Against AI Slop Jun 3, 2026<br>A Manifesto Against AI Slop
p]:mt-0">This is the English version of a document I shared with my team at work. The<br>original, in Spanish, used the term workslop instead of AI slop, but AI<br>slop is more appropriate.
We write, sketch, and diagram to communicate, but also to think clearly.<br>Generative AI makes it possible to start from a rough idea and generate a<br>professional document in seconds. But there is a downside: when time is short,<br>we spend less time reviewing what we produce. We create documents that look<br>professional, but contain meaningless details or filler sections. It is such a<br>common problem that it even has a name:<br>AI slop .<br>The main consequence of AI slop is the loss of trust.<br>Corporate writing, full of empty words, existed long before AI. The difference<br>is that, before, if a colleague sent you a 10-page analysis, you knew they had<br>at least spent time thinking it through. Today, when you detect AI-generated<br>content with no real substance, the feeling of wasted time is immediate: there<br>is an imbalance between production and understanding.<br>This manifesto aims to address AI slop, but it is not against the use of<br>AI. The text you are reading was assisted by AI in many ways: researching<br>articles, creating a first draft inspired by the<br>Agile Manifesto, transcribing and translating<br>voice notes, and finally, correcting and iterating.
h2]:mt-0">Core Values
Original thinking reinforced by AI , over automatic generation without<br>critical review.
Clarity with substance , over length without content.
Declared and responsible authorship , over opaque delegation to the model.
Trust earned over time , over apparent short-term efficiency.
Principles<br>If you can’t explain it, don’t send it<br>A deliverable you cannot defend or summarise in your own words is not finished.<br>Sending something without fully understanding it transfers the cognitive load to<br>the recipient.<br>The recipient is not your editor or proofreader<br>When you send AI slop, you ask someone else to do the work you did not do. That<br>has a cost in time, attention, and trust.<br>Declare the use of AI<br>Transparency about how content was produced allows the receiver to calibrate<br>their trust. Today, we cannot look down on the use of AI, but it is important to<br>communicate the degree of validation and editing that was performed.<br>Brevity with substance beats length without content<br>One paragraph that actually says something is worth more than ten that only<br>appear to. Aggressively editing AI output is part of the work, not a bonus.<br>Use AI to think better, not to avoid thinking<br>Writing is not just producing text: it is organizing ideas, identifying logical<br>gaps, and committing to a position. Use AI to enhance that process rather than<br>avoid it.<br>Tools do not have judgment; you do<br>AI does not know the audience’s context or the timing. You do. The added value<br>lies not only in using a tool but also in applying your judgment.