AI Work Slop And How To Stop It

Send us Fan MailWork Slop: Why AI Shortcuts Are Costing Teams More Than They SaveEver get an email, doc, or deck from someone and instantly think, “This is… not it”? In this episode, we’re digging into the rise of work slop—the vague, messy, low-quality output that shows up when AI is used as a replacement for thinking instead of a tool for support.Kendra sits down with Sue Justice, founder of Emory HR, to talk about why this isn’t just an AI problem—it’s a performance, communication, and leadership problem that businesses can’t afford to ignore. We explore:What “Work Slop” Is (and Why It’s Growing)How AI-generated work becomes unclear, incorrect, or incompleteWhy “slapping something together” shifts work to the next personThe difference between using AI as an assistant vs. letting it do the job This Isn’t a Tool Issue—It’s a Behavior IssueHow people have always “phoned it in,” but AI makes it faster and more visibleWhy audiences and teammates can sense when work lacks human touchThe real question leaders must ask: workload problem or character problem?What Leaders Should Do About ItWhen to coach and when to treat it as a performance issueWhy a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) matters before cutting tiesHow industry risk, trust, and legal exposure shape your response Where AI Helps—and Where It Shouldn’t LeadUsing AI for brainstorming or templates vs. high-stakes decisionsWhy contracts and policies need human tone, context, and accountabilityThe risk of letting AI output become “authority” without review Sue’s Biggest Marketing LessonWhy business owners shouldn’t try to do everything themselvesHow doing the wrong work wastes more time than it savesThe sustainability link between delegation and quality Whether you’re leading a team, outsourcing work, or using AI in your own business, this episode is a clear reminder: AI can save time, but only if humans own the standard. If the quality drops, the cost doesn’t disappear—it just lands on someone else. “AI is meant to be an assistant… not the end-all ‘I’ll do it for you’ solution.” – Sue Justice 00:00:00 Introduction to Sue Justice and why HR belongs in this conversation 00:02:06 What “work slop” is and how it shows up at work 00:03:39 Why AI misuse is really a people/performance issue 00:06:53 Skill gap vs. character flaw: how to tell the difference 00:09:57 When work slop becomes a firing-level problem 00:13:05 Transparency, AI policies, and setting clear standards 00:19:01 AI adoption is everywhere—whether companies admit it or not 00:23:04 Sue’s biggest marketing lesson as a business ownerConnect with Sue Justice:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanajustice/Website: https://emeryhr.com/ Looking to leverage AI? Want better results? Want to think about what you want to leverage?Check and see how I am using it for FREE on YouTube. From "Holy cow, it can do that?" to "Wait, how does this work again?" – I've got all your AI curiosities covered. It's the perfect after-podcast snack for your tech-hungry brain. Watch here