What AI Makes Impossible to Ignore

Theme: Slop

There’s a growing frustration in creative and technical circles right now, often summarized as “AI slop.” The phrase is everywhere, usually accompanied by the sense that something has gone wrong, that the internet is collapsing under the weight of its own automation.

Signal

But the uncomfortable truth is this that AI merely reveals the “slop” that already existed.

What AI has done, especially in creative spaces, is accelerate existing dynamics to a point where they can no longer be ignored. Content that was already thin is now infinite. Ideas that were already derivative are now multiplied instantly. Systems built to reward speed, sameness, and scale over thought are now operating at such volume that their cracks are impossible to ignore.

That is why we are seeing a subtle but meaningful shift in behavior. People are disengaging from feeds while leaning harder into group chats. Closed communities feel more alive than public platforms. In-person conversations feel richer than online discourse. When noise becomes overwhelming, humans instinctively seek signal.

Human View

At our recent AI & Creativity Summit in LA, this tension surfaced clearly in the session, “Everyone Hates AI”, where Benjamin Benichou articulated something many are sensing. The backlash around AI has less to do with the technology itself and more to do with fatigue from systems that have trained us to produce without reflecting, respond without considering, and create without grounding ideas in original thought.

AI is forcing a return to fundamentals: slower thinking, stronger source material, deeper craft, and attribution to ensure the full cycle of value creation remains intact. The tools are getting faster, and as a result, fundamentals are becoming unavoidable.

Pulse

1. Cloudflare’s VP of Product William Allen notes that AI doesn’t just expand creative possibility, it forces a rethink of the economic infrastructure needed to preserve attribution and value over time.

2. New research shows generative AI only boosts creativity for employees with strong metacognition. People who actively plan, question, and refine their thinking use AI as a creative amplifier, while passive users see little benefit.

3. When anyone can move fast, the edge shifts to thinking slow. Dominik Heinrich and Angella Tapé highlight how deliberateness is becoming the scarce skill as creative tools accelerate.

We hope to see you in NYC on May 14, 2026, where we will continue these conversations on the forefront of AI and creativity:

If you’re creating something aligned with Artist and the Machine or you’d like to recommend work shaping this space, we’d love to see it for the chance to be featured. Reach out to us at [email protected].

Til next time,

Artist and the Machine.

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