Workslop: Please Stop.

Workplaces groan, businesses drown in "workslop". The corporate cousin of the broader "AI Slop" - workslop brings the deluge of trashy AI-generated content to the workplace. Unchecked, workslop clogs workflows, fast erodes culture and pulls the handbrake on productivity.

This counterproductive behaviour typically stems from immature AI use, not malice or laziness.  Ok sometimes a touch of laziness. Teams rush to apply AI tools, offering vague prompts or neglecting to refine the outputs, passing poor and problematic "information" into the workplace. Such missteps are a natural phase of early adoption, reflecting a learning curve rather than intent.

AI-savvy businesses tackle workslop with discipline and maturity. Beyond technical fixes, such firms foster a culture of AI literacy, turning workslop into a stepping stone to maturity.  It invests in training, ensuring that competent interaction with AI produces value-add outputs. It fosters cultural norms to guide workslop toward productive and savvy AI use.

Leaders can frame workslop as a growth opportunity, not failure.  To outgrow workslop, organizations can adopt targeted methods. Start at the source and cover off basic training, ensuring good hygiene factors.  Reinforce the need to self-review all AI output.  Encourage peer-review to refine AI outputs, fostering accountability. Allow staff to learn from errors. Leaders can champion these steps, building a culture of mature AI literacy.

Ignoring workslop poses risks, invites AI stagnation, erodes morale and competitiveness. Leaders’ role is pivotal: identify it, address it early, turn missteps into seeds for growing your AI-savvy culture.