Experts says the problem is not AI use, but the lack of expectations on AI use
Employers are being urged to hold their employees more accountable for their final output in the wake of increasing AI "workslop."
"Workslop" refers to AI-generated output with poor quality, lacking in context, judgment, accuracy, or usefulness.
Sam Taylor, Business Expert at LLC.org, said preventing AI workslop requires clearer expectations and some quality rules surrounding the use of technology in workplaces.
This includes making employees more accountable for output that they submit at work.
"AI can assist, but the person sending the work owns the final output," Taylor said.
Employers should also ensure AI-assisted work reflects the client, audience, project, or decision it is meant to support, according to the business expert.
She also suggested banning vague deliverables and training employees on better prompting and judgment.
"The businesses that benefit most from AI will not be the ones using it the most," Taylor said in a statement. "They will be the ones using it with the clearest standards. AI should reduce friction, not create a second layer of invisible work."
Rise of AI workslop
Workslop has been on the rise as more employees utilise AI tools in their work, with recent research from BetterUp showing that 40% of workers had encountered it within a month.
The challenge with this kind of output is that it can be difficult to spot, and may have far-reaching consequences if it goes undetected by the rest of the team.
"If an employee sends a client brief, report, email, or strategy document that looks polished but does not answer the real question, someone else has to clean it up. That is not productivity. That is work being passed down the line," Taylor said.
For small businesses, Taylor warned that this one bad handoff can "slow down the whole day."
"There may not be five people available to fix a weak report or rewrite a client email. When AI work is vague, shallow, or wrong, the cost lands directly on the team," she added.
But the widespread use of AI is not the root cause of workslop, but the lack of clarity on what good AI-assisted work looks like.
"Some employees feel pressure to use AI because it signals efficiency," Taylor said. "But if the output is not checked, customized, and connected to the task, it becomes a shortcut with a hidden bill attached."
