Let's do something a bit different. I will include 2 versions of the intro, to prove a point. The 1st will be my take on parodying AI, and the 2nd will be actual AI.
Yes, this post will include a mix of satire and thoughts. And a dose of sarcasm and snark. ...Let's see how close I get!
There seems to be a sudden shift in the past 6 months, quietly changing our feeds. What once seemed easy to avoid, is now inescapable. It's not just overwhelming, it's frustrating! There's an increasing sense of AI Paranoia — and creators can't avoid it either.
This not only hurts their feelings — It also makes them wonder if their work will be replaced by AI slop.
Engagement is down, art is declining, and maybe the machines like AI slop more anyways.
The worst part? — Even once trusted creators are quietly switching to AI scripts — and they think their viewers are dumb engaged enough to not notice.
But this creator does notice, and it bugs me them a lot!
AI doesn't just make things more efficent — It erases your voice and makes you sound like a generic asshole!
(...Oh sorry.)
ChatGPT is a master at this wonderful conversion: taking tradtional artistic spaces and making them deeply engaging without losing what makes them strange and beautiful. What glorious praise to be had!
(I'm getting bored of this experiment already. Let's throw in 1 more line.)
The shaping idea behind this: the interplay between slop and content — what the gurus call "effortless" — creates visual formats that stop the eye and calm the mind.
In the last six months, something's shifted—and it’s quietly changing the way we experience our feeds. What was once easy to sidestep has now become impossible to avoid. It’s not just overwhelming anymore... it’s downright frustrating!
There’s this growing wave of “AI paranoia” creeping in—and no one’s immune to it, not even creators.
It’s more than just hurt feelings. It’s deep-seated doubt—creators are wondering if their craft is being replaced by bland, lifeless AI slop. Engagement is down, art is deteriorating, and who knows? Maybe the machines prefer that soulless slop.
But here’s the kicker: even the creators we once trusted are slipping into the trap of AI scripts—and they think no one will notice. But oh, some of us do notice. And let me tell you, it’s frustrating!
But here’s the thing... ChatGPT? It’s a masterclass in blending traditional art with deep, immersive engagement—without losing any of the weirdness or beauty that makes it unique. That’s the true glory, right there.
What makes it work is this: the delicate dance between “slop” and content—the gurus call it “effortless.” It’s the kind of visual format that stops you in your tracks, soothes the mind, and draws you in like nothing else.
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(...So what do you think? Was their version more engaging to read?
But more importantly, what does the AI think? Because we don't need to make our own opinions anymore, obviously!)
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"Your script has a strong concept and you’ve touched on something really timely and important: the tension between creators, AI, and the changing landscape of digital content. The points you bring up are clear, relatable, and resonate with the current concerns people are having around AI in creative spaces. That’s a great starting point!"
"Here are some things I’d suggest to enhance your writing even further:"
Overall Impressions:
"Your script has a lot of potential to tap into the current cultural moment of AI and creative work. You’ve set the stage for some really compelling points. If you can layer in some deeper emotion, tighter imagery, and maybe even a bit more contrast, it’ll take the writing to the next level and create a deeper connection with your audience."
"The structure itself, with its nice tight sentences and clear progression, could be softened slightly to feel more "free-flowing" and less like it was generated by a bot."
---
(Well, damn! I guess I should take some of that feedback to heart!
I don't know if I can do it, but that's what happens when you write the old fashioned way. Who knows, maybe I'll actually learn something!
I won't be using AI below this point, outside of referencing the headings given and sharing examples.
[I apologize I'm feeling snarky today, which is why this is a blog post and not a video script])
So, the opening wasn't tight enough? Fine! (making a tighter opening is tight!)
How about this, then?
I believe that AI is lowering the overall quality of mid range content from "mediocre" to "bloated and meaningless slop".
This impacts both creators who use it, AND creators who don't.
And I'm not going to "make that point firmer", because it is my subjective opinion based on my observations, and therefore not 100% a fact.
I consider myself a hobbyist writer, and the extent of my learning is public education and reading books. Though I am regretting never taking any pre-AI creative writing classes, or public speaking, or... etc.
What I mean by that is while I am trying to improve my quality of writing, and how to cut some of the bloat, I am not a professional writer.
And this is important, because I am trying to explain and convince the average person why these issues are concerning.
I think we went from one extreme of "this is my whole life story" blog era writing in the 2000s, to the opposite extreme of "no breathing or quirks allowed" hyper edited Mr Bease Mr Beast inspired writing of the late 2010s social media era.
The reason why AI writing feels uncanny familiar to me, besides being trained on the whole Internet, is this style of writing was very popular in Advice Reddit subs, and Self Help influencers during the 2010s.
Before it meant "this person is trying to sell you something", and now it means "this person didn't actually write this, a bot/AI wrote it (and probably still trying to sell you something)". So while the writing style is similar, the meaning has changed.
And in a meta sense, I am giving you this context (even if it isn't "tight"), because I am trying to give backstory to the info and not just bullet points.
This "AI paranoia" has been eating at me for at least the past 6 months. I've seen others bring it up as well online.
And I've been afraid to talk about it, because I don't want to be yet another "AI bad" post. I know it's overplayed.
But the more I think about it, the more I see it EVERYWHERE!
It's on Reddit, it's on SubStack, it's on YouTube, it's on Twitter, it's in email newsletters.
And at first, I would go "oh this is an obvious AI-only account, unfollow". Or "no, I'm not interested in this". And that worked for awhile.
But then, within the past 6 months, something changed. ("shifted" even)
Human creators that used to write their own scripts, that I had followed for years, they started doing it too.
And? They didn't disclose it. They didn't mention it. And they thought nobody would notice.
And that pissed me off, because I trusted these Internet creators and strangers. I DID notice! They were knowledgeable experts of their fields, they didn't need AI to remove their voice or pad their script.
And for me, who does writing because I enjoy writing and has found relief through writing, it gave me this awful feeling in my stomach.
Because all these people, from completely different fields, of different ages, different countries, completely separate people. They all started talking EXACTLY the same.
I've taken some anonymous quotes from a few different creators. I'm not going to name them because I don't want to bother anyone specific, and wanted to give a few examples. One of these creators is not a human, see if you can guess which one. ;^)
(Did you guess? The answer is three. The other 4 are from real YouTube scripts.
Hearing my own concept reworked in an AI voice was very surreal. Definitely adding to the AI paranoia.)
I've heard of "influencer voice" before, how social media reshapes your brain. I get that. I've been hearing people mention the book "Filterworld" over and over, but I haven't gotten to it yet.
And I think why it makes me feel uncomfortable is it starts feeling like people have sold their souls and voice for retention's sake.
It makes me feel used, when a creator uses AI to write their whole script, or let's say more than 80% of the script.
Intros need to be as tight as possible, and I can understand wanting to get to the point quickly. But when it's the whole script, it feels like they are wasting your time and disrespecting your trust.
So when does it make sense to use AI? It will depend on the person.
Some people will never ever use AI, not even 1%, out of principle alone.
Others will use it for strictly idea generating or outline ideas. And then after that is human made.
And another factor to consider here, is non-LLM versions of AI. While in the 2020s we assume "AI" and "anti-AI" means only LLMs, there are other forms of AI as well. The kind of AI used in videogames to make the CPU characters and NPCs do things. Or the AI to run the "For You" feeds and algorithms online.
I personally think that the most common forms of AI use is in ways where it isn't marked as AI. Such as editing, trimming, and other features.
So I don't see this as strictly 100% bad or 100% good.
Obviously as an artist I lean more towards "I prefer not using it when possible, and keep my creative work separate". But I also understand that we probably won't go back to the pre-AI era again either.
Emotions wise, this has made me paranoid, and sad, and maybe sometimes mad.
Because I've been told frequently by others in life that "art is frivilous frivolous, go get a real job!". And now AI is going after "real jobs" too, so... (There's nothing after the "so".)
What I mean is there is a divide between artists and non-artists, and AI feels like yet another way for non-artists to say "what you gain worth from is trash! even a robot can do it!".
So, yeah, that does kinda hurt my feelings.
Is it behavior I'm used to? Yep. But the hurt is still there, self-bashing or not. "haha it's so funny that artists can't get by! /s"
I'll get more into the "why is AI slop called slop anyways?" part later.
Back in the day the worst insult you could throw at an artist was "your work looks traced". Now it's replaced with "your work looks like AI". I'm honestly not sure which is worse, as both offend many artists.
Paradoxically, the more that AI makes slop, the more humans feel like "why I was so worried about making slop and failing before? AI does it all the time!". This is commonly represented by the "go pick up a pencil!" meme, to encourage people to start creating with their own 2 hands.
I find this fitting, because one of the main reasons I switched from traditional art to digital art, is everyone online was doing digital art. But I still do traditional art, more as my own self indulgence, and sometimes as a rough draft. (But also because I suck at coloring in physical art, as you can easily ruin a piece without an "undo" button! lol)
I am trying my best not to panic, even if I do get bouts of paranoia, self doubt, concern, depression and dread.
Because I think eventually we will collectively realize what AI is good at, and what it's bad at. And one of those things (at least in it's current state in March 2026), is that AI struggles to write scripts or posts without it's cliches or "accent".
(See? An AI wouldn't accidentally skip to the conclusion midway through, oops! But don't worry, I'll expand more on that later)
Another emotional side effect is self doubt.
I already have loads and loads of self doubt. I really don't need more.
But why does AI cause self doubt?
And so on.
You start worrying not only "does this suck?" but ALSO "does this sound too similar to AI?".
And that makes finishing work take longer, because you're spending more time fighting doubts and "what if" questions.
You've probably noticed this in my writing style, but I don't give many visuals.
Why? I have aphantasia. I don't see anything in my mind's eye. So I can't describe something that isn't there to begin with.
I imagine many people with aphantasia probably go into self help and nonfiction, where they don't need to describe visuals as much. That's just my guess though.
Another thing, is I find reading long visual descriptions to be boring. Because I can't imagine, it's basically a wall of words without much happening to me.
It could be possible to find a workaround for this, but it would be pretty difficult.
It also makes being a visual artist more difficult. I often struggle to draw things from memory without a reference, unless I've drawn it enough times to become muscle memory.
When I first found out about aphantasia around 2016 or so, I was stunned. Why did I not hear of this sooner? Why does nobody talk about this?! Isn't this kinda important?!
For a long time I thought that "visualize a beach" or "I see a movie when reading a book" was a metaphor. And led to much frustration.
So much of motivational self help revolves around visualizing... And sometimes therapy too...
(Anyways, let me take a break IRL, and then think more about the topic of AI Paranoia.)
Another trend I've noticed is including more bloopers in the main video, or adding human asides to posts. I think this is supposed to give evidence that the creator is human. But if the above "sound less like a bot" advice is any indication, people could potentially artifically add "mistakes" to seem "more natural".
I have been less strict about being perfect, now that "perfect" has become more associated with AI work and artificalness. I don't force them in, but occasionally I will add a line mess up, or an aside. But I try to keep it to 1 or 2, and not constantly.
Sometimes I also make a human typo. If it's quickly after posting, I will fix it and edit it out. But if it's been sitting there for awhile I let it stay.
I've had depression and perfectionist tendencies for most of my life.
Some people use "perfectionist" as a stand in for "I have high standards". But for me, perfectionism more frequently results in paralysis and delaying. In other words NOT creating or improving!
These past 2 years, I've been trying to overcome my perfectionism, because delaying starting means you are also delaying growth and learning.
I worried so much about making the wrong choice, that I made NO choice. And THAT was also a wrong choice! lol
Sometimes I wonder if maybe the perfectionism and depression aren't 2 separate conditions, but one in the same. The perfectionism leads to more depression, and more depression leads to more perfectionism. It's a self reinforcing loop. "If it's not perfect, then it's not worth trying" is the mantra there.
But that's the thing. If you wait for the perfect moment, you'll never start.
It's only in hindsight you think "Ah! That there was the perfect moment! I should have started then!". And then you beat yourself up, "you idiot!".
Sometimes I think about the story of the tortoise and the hare. It's supposed to be a story about how sometimes slow and steady is better than fast and rushed. But I feel like, if I were to add my own addition, maybe there would be a snail as well. Or a sloth. Something like that. But I'll go with snail for now.
So if the tortoise is supposed to be slow and steady, adn the hare is fast and rushed, the snail represents a different kind of slowness.
The snail says "I'm not ready to race yet! All the other racers are much better than me. A snail could never win a race!". And so the snail decides to stay at the starting line.
Maybe it'll read a book about the concept of racing. Or stare longingly at the other racers racing ahead.
And in it's illusion the snail thinks "Ah yes, I am learning racing. See? I've thought so much about racing!". But in reality, the snail hasn't moved an inch.
The snail was so worried about falling over, or falling behind. Or maybe one of the other racers would bump into them and break their shell! That would be horrible!
The snail was so worried about the bad futures awaiting it, that it didn't realize that their precious present moment was slipping away from them.
And that the only bigger shame than trying and failing, was the shame of not trying at all. Or at least, not trying in a way that other people could visibly see.
...What was that tangent about? Humans like using characters and story as an analogy or metaphor for their struggles and challenges they are going through. And me going on about that, was me trying to figure out a new way of explaining the same problem. I apologize if this post is super meta, but occasionally I enjoy doing it.
As you can guess, the snail in the story is supposed to represent me, and what I've learned. (hmm maybe I will make a snail OC or something)
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Growing up online, I heard countless advice about what I should do, or what I was supposed to do. 10 things you need to know in your 20s, don't do this in your 20s, think this, do that, etc.
And I thought that was helping me be more prepared. That I wouldn't screw up, because I knew what to do, or what was best to do.
But what actually happened, is whenever I failed to live up to that ideal, I felt horrible about myself.
And that was basically constantly, and became a self repeating cycle.
Try, Fail, Shame, Read Advice, Shame, Try, Fail, Shame, Read Advice, Shame.
I spent so long focused on what I "should" do, or what I "shouldn't" do, that I forgot how to enjoy life. I felt like my job was to make everyone else happy, and please everyone else. But I wasn't making myself happy, or pleasing myself. In the short term, it didn't seem bad. But in the long term it lead to chronic anxiety and depression, among other issues.
Even when I'm doing things I'm enjoying, I'm often worrying "Is this the best way? Am I learning enough? Am I going fast enough? Am I going to let others down? Does it matter?".
In the end, maybe it's not JUST about AI paranoia. Maybe the AI situation is making those already existing issues feel more intensified. (and I swear that's not an AI saying that either! Geez)
So what is "AI Slop"? Why is it so popular to bring up? How is it impacting how we consume media and create?
Before AI we used to say things "sucked" or "shitty" or "crap", or so on. That 99% of things created sucked, and we should be angry about that.
But when AI was made public, and AI "content" started flooding the Internet in a way never seen before, we needed something stronger than "this sucks!".
So people online started calling it "AI Slop". And then later started calling things not by AI as "slop" as well. Like "corpo slop" or "shounen slop" or "friend slop" etc.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the words we say do matter. Taking art and jobs away from people sounds sad, but if everything they do is just "slop", then it doesn't matter.
I personally think of the multiple episodes of Spongebob where whenever the Krusty Krab sells out, the Krabby Patties are eventually made without love, or in some cases become literal slop.
Traditionally "slop" before AI referred to things like "the food they serve at this place is slop!" or "all pigs eat is slop!" etc. It referred to food that was low quality and barely edible.
The dictionary definition for digital slop is as follows: - "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence"
Another thing to factor into the discussion, is that AI slop is both low quality and high quantity. Because it's created so quickly and effortlessly, and anyone can do it, it spreads crazy fast.
But because of that, many creators feel like they are being drowned out, or they can't keep up, or they are being replaced.
It goes against the old saying that "the cream of the crop will naturally rise to the top". But what happens when that crop is never seen in the first place?
I've been seeing people bring it up how it's been hurting them creatively, that they feel like quantity and speed is valued over quality and care. Even more so on platforms that have algorithms, that are constantly changing and adjusting.
I was going to quote a specific person, but I lost their post. Oof lol
But I feel like it's both a positive and a negative thing at the same time. Positive because it means showing mistakes means you're human, and you don't need to hyper-edit, keyword-max, adding loads of bloat, etc. But negative because more competition, human or otherwise, means less space for your specific work to appear. (If the feed is 20 videos, and 10 of those are Shorts, and 5 of those are AI, that leaves you with only 5 potential slots left. And some say it's as low as 2-3 slots.)
For a long time, I thought the only thing that mattered was output and the final result. That's the only part other people see after all.
But when I saw how using AI took away the process of creating and learning, that made me realize that I do actually value the process too!
Now I don't mean in every example or usage case of AI, but I mean when you use it strictly as a creative generating machine specifically.
When I see something like an auto translated tweet online, there's no effort on my part. It appears the same as a regular tweet does. But when I used to read places like Twitter in a 2nd language, I had to use my brain and concentrate to figure out what it was saying. Sometimes that meant I didn't know what they were saying at all!
But at times I wonder if the cost of everything being convenient and effortless, is that we stop TRYING!
Even before ChatGPT I remember people online saying "why bother learning a 2nd language when AI is coming and then you'll have wasted your time?". And at time it was just a hypothetical, as even Google Translate during that point wasn't great and had many errors.
I couldn't think of an answer back then. But now that we're in a post-AI world, I think I better understand what my answer is.
Studying a 2nd language was the 1st time in my life, that I felt like when I put in effort and did what I wanted to regardless of what anyone else said, that results showed up. Not by hitting native level in 6 months, or being able to move to another country, but it gave a level of self-confidence and self-respect that you don't get by having a machine do it for you.
There's not a lot in life that I feel proud of myself for doing. But I am proud that I decided to study Japanese on my own, purely because I loved it and I wanted to understand it better.
Now that I'm older I realize there are things more important than being 200% efficient all the time, or getting every single thing you think you want.
Because those benefits I got were something that I couldn't buy, or prompt a machine to do for me.
I think that in the age of trying to max our comfort and ease, we forget that just because you can eat candy every day, doesn't meant you should. The same goes for excessive pleasure and excessive comfort.
AI Slop is annoying because it's digital pollution. Not all of it, not everything. But a lot of it does make the Internet harder to browse and be part of. (And unfortunately it also contributes to real life pollution as well!)
Unlike IRL we can't exactly organize a beach trash clean up. And we can't expect major platforms to change this as long as it's profitable for them.
But I do think we're starting to see signs of change from the 2022~2025 era. YouTube recently added a new poll to their website asking viewers "Does this video seem like AI Slop to you?". And they've mentioned multiple times they want to lower the amount of low quality posts. If they do or not is yet to be seen, but we'll see.
I think going at it from the anti-AI angle is easy. But maybe going at it from a "pro-creativity" angle would be better.
I've been in tons of online communities that are anti something, instead of pro something. Stop drinking, stop scrolling, stop surfing, stop shopping, stop this, stop that. And I understand why that sentiment exists, but shamed and hate fueled attempts at change only go so far.
A lot of people realize that if they try to quit going online, and just focus on that, they often fail. And it's only after focusing on the benefits, or finding something more positive or meaningful, that they see real change.
If we can't rely on sites to implement changes, what we can focus on is continuing to create, and encouraging others to be creative.
Also just because I enjoy creating doesn't mean it's always a happy thing. I've said it before, but being frustrated, stuck, despairing, all of that is part of the process too.
And accepting that it's normal and everyone struggles is part of getting past perfectionism.
You know what? I'm skipping this.
I feel like I've already done that enough in the previous sections.
I'm going to the conclusion now.
Some of the creators I follow go with this format. It's popular in script writing.
It's kind of like in music when it ends with all the instruments and a big final note to send things off. We like feeling like things are having a happy ending or a satisfying conclusion.
And it also helps the viewer end on a happy note, and not just doom and gloom the whole way through. (though some people skip this step)
...So how do we deal with AI Paranoia? What do we do when even people we previously trusted are erasing their voice? How long will these feelings last for?
I remember hearing somewhere something along the lines of "We don't control the outside world. We don't control the response to what we do. The only thing we control is what WE do.".
And I think we do that by trying to appreciate what we're doing, regardless of external results.
Things are always going to be changing. Big highs followed by deep lows.
If you tie your self worth to those unstable things, you're going to feel unstable too.
And one of the things I've been looking for through writing and creating, is a way to build self-belief, and self-trust, and self-respect, and all these other self states.
As I keep writing, I feel like I better understand my thoughts, and my own voice. Even if I don't always like it. lol
And now I feel like I would rather try and fail while being myself, than succeed by erasing myself.
Which is a pretty big leap for me, because growing up I wanted to be anybody else but myself. I tried erasing myself, deleting myself, trying to scribble out my flaws and wants.
And seeing how AI has changed things, it also changed my mind.
It's only when I saw the opposite extreme of everyone being content machines, that I could more clearly see that I wanted meaning beyond output alone.
While it stings seeing people I trusted "cheating" their way to the end, I also believe that maybe someday some might realize this too.
That if you take out the "You" all you're left with is Tubes. Tubes are replacable, forgettable, and nothing but noise.
Like a constant background humming of 2nd screen content.
I don't want to see art turned into that. Even if it's just silly videos on the Internet.
Because growing an audience, connecting with other people and other creators, growing creatively, that kind of stuff lasts a lifetime.
I don't have all the answers. I don't have a perfectly trimmed down script. I don't even have a big college level vocab to flex.
But I hope that at least some of this stuff helps.
And seeing AI speak become the new PR speak, where people talk for hours and say nothing, I get now why people say "trim the fat".
One time I watched somebody else watching YouTube. I realized quickly the video was AI, but I was curious how long it'd take for them to notice. It took about 8 minutes of the video repeating the 1 same point over and over like a student essay, for them to realize this script was stretched out for ad revenue by AI. Other times they never noticed, when it was in top 10 formats for example.
Sometimes I will do 30K+ rambling posts like this. But I am also learning how to write tighter, so I can get to the point quickly when I need to. This will take time to develop the skill of what personal touches I want to keep, and which I can trim.
But one last thing is, don't let the doomers get to you. A lot of people are being paid money to say whatever they want, and rage sells, rage spreads.
But creating is something that's unique to you. Everyone has their own life experiences, way of talking, and way of seeing things. Those are the things that only you can do.
Thanks for reading!
I went into this post thinking I'd just be making a rant about AI, but I ended up going into creating and personal territory as well.
Sometimes I worry if this is all talk. I don't want to talk just for talking sake.
But I like to think that the more I write about it, the better I understand what I think about it and how I feel.
Let me know if you have any thoughts or insights as well.
See you next time!
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