The Age of AI Slop: How We’re Training Ourselves to Accept Mediocrity
The optimist in me still wants to believe that fully AI-generated movies, created entirely from a few prompts, will never truly replace the human touch - that audiences will always crave something made with passion, dedication, and hard work.
But I can’t help feeling pessimistic. Because with the release of OpenAI’s Sora 2 and Google’s Veo 3.1 right now doesn’t feel like the rise of creative technology - it feels like the slow devaluation of creativity itself.
For those of us who live and breathe the arts, purely AI-generated content - not content using AI to assist creative projects - isn’t just a technical curiosity. It’s a challenge to what we stand for - to the very idea that creating something, rather than simply consuming it, has value.
From Labor to Art: The Devaluation of Creation
I grew up believing that hard work and skill were the cornerstones of value. My generation was told that to succeed, you had to study, train, and master particular skills. But when it came to creative work - music, writing, filmmaking, acting - society seemed to conclude: “Art and creative pursuits are nice, but they are not essential to progress.”
When I graduated in 2007, within a year, the recession hit, and that message hit harder than ever. We - the so-called “millennials” - entered a world that had no need for our degrees, specialized training or skill sets. We were told to be grateful for whatever jobs we could find. Creativity became a luxury, not a livelihood.
I got side-tracked from my creative career and ended up working in IT because I felt compelled to work in an area that was needed. Spoiler alert; I failed miserably in this career because although I developed incredible technical and problem-solving skills - that transfer incredibly well in filmmaking - I’m ultimately less skilled than those that live and breathe technology.
But as I have failed and as a result have grown as a person, I have realized something: art matters. It matters because it’s one of the few things that connects us as humans. It’s more than just entertainment. It’s a part of our culture, helps build empathy, provides us with perspective - things that are vital to the human experience.
The Creative Worker’s Dilemma
Fast-forward to today, and creative work has become both more in demand and more disposable than ever. Everyone wants content - video, sound, visuals - but the reality is, very few people want to pay for the people who make it.
As a video editor, I’ve seen this first-hand. Companies all need a social media presence to survive and therefore need content. But a lot of these companies treat the production and editing of this content as a cost to minimize rather than a craft to reward. Even successful YouTubers are hesitant to invest in quality production, because no one can guarantee which video will hit the algorithm jackpot.
It’s a strange paradox: creative work has never been more visible, yet the labor behind it continues to not be considered of value.
The Rise of AI Voices and the Erosion of Authenticity
The first time I felt truly threatened by AI wasn’t with video or visuals - it was with voice. I had spent years building my recording setup: the microphone, the sound booth, the editing tools. As primarily a storyteller with a focus on the audio experience, I invested a lot into perfecting this area of my creation.
Then came ElevenLabs and AI voiceovers that could mimic emotion and cadence almost flawlessly. They’re impressive, yes. But if you listen to AI voiceovers for longer than three minutes they become soulless.
For short, utilitarian content - two-minute explainers, ad reads - they work great. But in storytelling? In the long form? The rhythm and cadence collapses. Great narrators know how to keep listeners engaged by keeping things unique and spontaneous.
And the irony? Using these AI voice over tools doesn’t even always save time. Although ElevenLabs allows for “realistic” emotions, you have to guide it by prompting what emotions you want in specific areas. For me, it’s faster to record it myself - because I know how it should sound.
What We’re Losing: Culture as Connection
YouTube has thrived because it was authentic. It gave us voices outside the mainstream, people who spoke directly and without perfection. That rawness and authenticity was, and still remains to be, the appeal.
But now, as AI begins to mimic not only our art but our personalities, what will happen when that rawness disappears? When every “creator” becomes a curator of machine output.
Because at its core, creativity isn’t just about output - it’s about connection. It’s the dialogue between artist and audience, between intent and interpretation. When we remove the human, we don’t just lose the creator; we lose the meaning.
The TikTok Generation and the Normalization of “Slop”
Here’s where my concern deepens. I teach acting students - young, talented people who should be at the forefront of creative expression. Each week I ask them, “What have you been watching?” My expectation being that as they are studying acting and filmmaking, they should be studying their craft in the form of movies and TV shows.
And more often than not, the answer I recieve is: “Nothing.”
Not movies. Not shows. Not even YouTube.
Positive intent applied - maybe they are super busy with schoolwork and other activities other than doomscrolling social media - but sitting through a two-hour film? That as a pastime that is starting to feel like homework to them.
This shift terrifies me. Because it’s not just a change in preference - it’s a change in patience, in attention, in cultural stamina. If a generation grows up believing that 10-second clips of algorithmic chaos are “entertainment,” then why wouldn’t they accept AI-generated slop as entertainment as well?
We’ve already normalized low-effort content - the dopamine drip of endless scrolling. AI just industrializes it. “Slop,” once a meme, becomes a market. And the danger is that once people stop caring about where art comes from, they’ll stop noticing when it stops being human.
Plugged Into the Matrix
I don’t think we’ll wake up one day in a literal Matrix. But metaphorically? Maybe we’re already halfway there.
We’re being conditioned to accept the idea that content doesn’t need a creator - that art doesn’t need an artist. That constant stimulation is a substitute for creativity.
And if we keep rewarding “AI slop,” we might find ourselves living in a culture that has no room for original thought, only algorithmic remixing.
Maybe this all sounds dramatic - maybe it’s just another anxious creative rant about “the machines taking over.” But underneath the worry is something real: a plea for discernment.
Technology will evolve. AI will get better. But we don’t have to lose ourselves in the process.
We can choose to keep seeking stories that make us feel something, to honor the artists who pour themselves into their work, and to remind the next generation that patience, curiosity, and empathy are part of what make us human.
Because if we don’t - if we settle for the slop - then the future won’t be one made with AI.
It’ll be one made by it.
And I don’t know about you, but that’s not a world I want to watch.
