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Why AI slop is just killing your brand, and how to escape the AI-content trap

Updated: 2 days ago

I think I'm stating the obvious when I say that the web is sinking into an abyss of polished words devoid of meaning, elegant turns of phrase that no human ever used before the advent of AI. Admittedly, everything is perfectly formatted, grammatically correct (even if some people resist and insist on including spelling mistakes, don't they?). But it's all hollow. Empty. Boring. Predictable. Laughable, at times.


The web, once meant to be a space for global human discovery, is now almost overflowing with AI slop: high-volume, low-depth output generated to look productive. And let's not even talk about social media, because that literally goes beyond comprehension. The content is generated almost entirely for algorithms (or so we think; real algorithms aren't that stupid)—not for people—by machines that have mastered the art of more or less successful imitation. It's understandable that some people aren't thrilled.


And the worst part is, we can easily deduce that the next generation of AI, learning on its own recycled slop, isn't going to make things better. This is Echo Chamber 2.0, on a global scale. Many see this not as a creative revolution, but simply as mass production, what is now called content farming. I hope you don't miss the obscenity of the expression. It doesn't escape me, as I always struggled to understand this obsession with "content," which seems absurd to me in itself, to start with. Like there's some kind of container that must be filled, somewhere, for whatever reason. Not even mentioning the notion of "influencer," which just makes me want to reply, "O-kay, but an influencer of what?"



Adidas shoes catalogue page with the history of Adidas sneakers
Was it a good idea to let billions of people with no idea of design, writing, or strategy mass-produce content?

1. The illusion of progress


Generative AI promised to democratize creativity. In a sense, that's obviously quite true. But at the same time, we've also given billions of people with no knowledge of design, writing, or strategy the opportunity to mass-produce content that has little or no meaning, and to pollute the public sphere with a voice equal to that of a Nobel laureate. We've led them to believe they can write now. But when you're suddenly thrust into the role of public writer, the problem is not knowing how to spell words and compose sentences, it is knowing how to write and about what. And that's precisely where the problem lies.


The reality is that generative AI has not democratized creativity, it has simply industrialized production. Anyone can now "produce content"—it's fast, cheap, and infinite. Or so we thought. And now we try to use it, we read it, we analyze the impact, and we realize the unmanageable mountain of verbal pollution we have produced. Conclusion, four years or so down the road: when everyone produces, nobody reads.


I mean look around: headlines cloned from one another, identical phrasing, recycled claims. The same rhythm, the same void. To let you in on a secret, we recently plugged in an AI marketing assistant to continuously optimize our site. We unplugged it this afternoon. No matter what you tell it to do, it's not an optimization tool—it's a flattening tool. That's why I started by saying that if you don't avoid the pitfalls of AI-generated content, you're going to kill your brand. As things stand, it's a very, very real risk. This is what happens when machines trained on average outputs become the main source of new ones. The web starts to sound like itself. And you start to sound like any other.



2. What 'AI slop' really means


The term 'AI slop' comes from Reddit and Wikipedia. As you will have understood, it describes online material generated by AI that shows a lack of effort, quality, or deeper meaning. A kind of digital spam disguised as insight. A truism, really.


Let me be clear, I am absolutely not against AI or AI-assisted content generation. At Ultrabrand, we use it extensively, and nothing we have accomplished in the last four years would have been possible without AI. I think it's an absolutely fantastic tool. But it remains a tool, and like any tool, it means nothing in itself and only takes on its true dimension through the craftsman who uses it.


Leaving aside hallucinations, what AI generates isn't always wrong, far from it. It's just... nothing without educated human input. AI-generated content in itself, by nature, has no reasoning. No intuition. No lived understanding. No tension or risk. AI cannot feel, and humans can feel it.


What we see now is that brands that start publishing this kind of content at scale confuse clarity with quantity. They believe visibility comes from volume (it's partly true and can be misleading with social media). In reality, it kills depth, differentiation and ultimately trust. Therefore, it kills brands.



Christian Dior handbag in a shop window
The moment you delegate your own responsibility to create and think to a machine designed to imitate, simulate, or reason, but without intelligence, you cease to create.


3. The AI-content trap


This is where we really get to the core of the problem. And it's not AI itself. To believe that is simply to absolve oneself of one's own responsibility as a user and creator. No, the real problem is believing that AI can replace human intelligence when it can only amplify it—by its very nature.


The moment you delegate your own responsibility to create and think to a machine designed to imitate, simulate, or reason, but without intelligence, you cease to create. You start to echo. The result is content, and creative decisions, that look smart but lack a center. It's a strategy without conviction. Marketing without mind. A brand world without spirit. A legend lacking epic grandeur.


That said, all these considerations apply to creation, but when it comes to reading, verifying, ranking and structuring, AI shows its true potential and takes on a scale and a precision that is unattainable for humans. It can analyze user intent, surface patterns, and recommend improvements. But the trap once again is that it doesn’t deeply know what matters. By definition it lacks taste, context, and judgement, all the things that make communication human. Therefore, you cannot take any of the suggested improvements literally; your own human judgment will always make the difference.



4. How the flattening kills performance


The tech giants have understood this very well, and search engines are already reacting.

For example, a recent article by Search Engine Land shows that Google AI Overviews drive 61% drop in organic CTR, 68% in paid. Scary.


But I believe that’s not the full story. I believe that decline also comes from sameness and boredom. When every brand uses the same prompts and "AI content tools," headlines lose gravity. Meta descriptions blur together. Users stop clicking because nothing stands out, nothing is interesting. Everything is as bland as an endive.


And what happens? Algorithms read lower engagement and push the next generic piece higher, until the entire web becomes indistinguishable. And that's also how visibility collapses in my opinion. Not because items get suppressed, but because users (understandably) feel saturated. This can also be seen in the fatigue that is beginning to overwhelm social media users, and the inexorable decline in traffic we’re already seeing.



5. What AI can (and should) do


I believe it is quite obvious that AI cannot replace humans writers. But it can read content better than any analyst could. It can measure semantic density, detect originality, and compare patterns of reasoning. It can evaluate tone and structure, and reveal what resonates. That’s where AI becomes useful: not as a ghostwriter, but as an intelligent reader. A scalable evaluator that filters noise and amplifies signal.


To me, that's the real revolution; perhaps not so visible today because we're still bogged down in content farming. But when we've saturated everything and everyone is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, I think we'll see the true nature of AI emerge. Because ironically and ultimately, when used properly AI is a true revolution against mediocrity and the lack of inspiration, against the marketing and advertising pollution that invades everything and of which we are all starting to get seriously tired.


So the goal is not to stop using AI. It’s to use it where it makes sense: to verify, refine, and systemize quality.



Street art mural with the face of David Bowie
Culture, experience, feelings, intuition, instinct, feelings define why humans create at all.


6. What humans must protect


Whatever happens in the future, what remains irreplaceable are the qualities machines can’t simulate:


  • Judgment: deciding what deserves to exist.

  • Taste: the instinct that tells you when something feels off.

  • Context: knowing where meaning belongs.

  • Intent: creating for someone, not for metrics.


Culture, experience, feelings, intuition, instinct, feelings—all these things that constitute human intelligence cannot be coded. They define why humans create at all. Without them, what we call "content" will never be anything more than structure, and what we call intelligence will never be anything more than cleverness. And once we have all finished marveling at the apparent perfection of synthetic content, and have all begun to see its emptiness and face its consequences, things will change and become worthwhile.



7. The way forward


Having spent nearly 25 years working with the world's finest brands and having taught luxury brand management, I think I'm in a pretty good position to say that the future belongs to brands that use AI to amplify their identity and intelligence, not simulate it—and little by little, make it common place.


AI is a microscope, not a mouthpiece. AI is a tool to see patterns, not a substitute for presence. It cannot be, by nature. If you doubt, I suggest you spend some time doing two things: understanding what human intelligence is—and I mean intelligence, not intellect—and looking into what AI really is, beyond the fantasies its executives sell to boost stock prices.


But the key takeaway here is that if you build content with intent, clarity, and depth, protect your voice and meaning, you’ll rise above the noise. Everything else will drown in the slop.



Interested in hearing a fresh, no-nonsense approach for your next content strategy and website? Book your Digital Check-In to assess how your content marketing system performs in the AI era.



Manelik Sfez of Ultrabrand


About the author


Manelik Sfez, founder of the Swiss web agency Ultrabrand, brings 25 years of international business, marketing, and brand strategy experience to the table. He has worked with some of the world's most iconic brands throughout his career. From luxury goods to global retail, financial services and technological and industry giants, he has guided companies through brand-led transformations that have enabled significant business growth.



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