Is All AI Writing Slop? AI Is for the Mind, Humans Are for the Heart
No, not all AI writing is slop. But it depends entirely on what you're writing. In technical spaces, I'd argue AI-assisted writing should be the baseline. In creative writing, I feel differently.
The "slop" criticism is fair, but it's a criticism of writing with no expertise or judgment behind it, not of AI involvement itself.
Technical writing is a delivery mechanism, not an art form
Technical writing exists to convey information, not to be admired. AI standardizes complex specs into clear documentation without the ambiguity a human writer can accidentally introduce. It solves the blank-page problem: engineers hate writing docs, so AI-assisted drafts unlock knowledge that would otherwise stay trapped in someone's head. And it makes translation and accessibility instant . The same content rewritten for a beginner, or in fifteen languages, in seconds.
For example, I've been writing technical comparisons and product pages for crane equipment. With zero background in this industry, I've run into few issues beyond occasional AI hallucinations, which I catch because I review every piece, research where necessary, and validate all content including through other AI tools, to produce the best outcome. Is it AI slop? No. It's validated, credible data that resonates with engineers. I wouldn't be able to execute this project for my client without AI and it wouldn't be nearly as fast to optimize their site for GEO either.
Creative writing runs on a different contract
As a voracious reader of fiction and nonfiction, I'm not just looking for information. I want a relationship with the writer. Storytelling resonates because it reflects real experience. AI can mimic a tragedy's structure but hasn't lived one and readers can sense when the stakes aren't real. Perfect text is also boring. The sometimes unconventional word choices and rough edges an AI editor would smooth out are often what give writing its voice. And as AI fills the web with effortless content, I think human-made storytelling will only command more of a premium, because knowing someone agonized over it is part of the bond with the reader.
AI is for the mind; humans are for the heart
Automate the manual labor of organizing information, so people have more time and energy for the writing that requires being human.
Curious how this plays out in your own content? This is exactly the judgment call I help clients make as part of building out a content strategy that holds up. Contact me today.