The Slop-ocalypse Is Here

It’s the spookiest day of the scariest year. Or, Happy Halloween in 2025, I guess.

If your nervous system is up for it, come gather round the fire of burning books because I’ve got a story for you...We’re in the Zombie Slop-ocalypse. AI is taking the human out of everything and we’re letting it.

The rise and volume of AI Slop is infecting hordes of people with a primal hunger for thoughtless, empty content. It has us slack-jawed and numb-thumbed, drool-scolling through short videos, endless memes, fake news and if-only-it-were-fake news.

I’m afraid all this automation, thoughtless creation and thoughtless consumption isn’t freeing up our minds and imaginations. It’s hollowing out and starving them.

But to accept we’re doomed would be to greatly underestimate the marvelousness of the human mind. Which I’m not willing to do. If you aren’t, either, here are a few survival tactics for the slop-ocalypse.

Work with other humans.

In the movies, survival is all the better when it’s fought for together. It’s like that in creative work, too. There is something to be said for the process between idea and execution, the one AI smooths out. There’s friction. And in that friction, creatives develop necessary skills: collaboration, compromise, a team mentality, an understanding of the value of different people with different strengths. Who would watch the movie where Chat GPT just says what to do?

Focus on what won’t go bad.

Stockpiling canned goods works because no matter how long the battle goes on, the stuff stays good. So ask yourself, what makes creative good? That it is well crafted, that it connects with humans, that it provokes emotion, that it reflects lived experience and good taste. Accumulate those skills. You’re going to need them.

Remember the old ways.

When the power goes out, remember, AI is just a tool. A tool should help you do something, not nothing. What did you do before you had it? Think critically? What did you need? An original idea? Sorry, but if you want to save your little grey cells, you’re going to have to do that again.

Face your fears.

The heroes always get banged up. You will too. But be brave in the face of blank pages and open briefs. They’re only scary because solving big problems is scary. Doing new things is scary. Putting something of your silly little gooey heart out in front of people is scary. But that’s how we make beautiful, meaningful work.

We can stop the slop. It’s going to be harder than you might like. The horde will claw at you, whispering shortcuts and safe ideas. But, if you keep moving, you’ll survive. I promise.