The Aesteria Codex //022: AI Slop Is Everywhere: How to Navigate Content Creation as a Personal Brand
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Let's talk "AI slop," the phrase the internet has given to low quality, AI generated, copy-paste content.
Merriam-Webster made it their word of the year last year, and defined it as digital content of low quality, produced in quantity by artificial intelligence.
Clients have been coming to me every single day, asking me questions about how to integrate AI inside their brand and their content.
"How do I use AI to create my Instagram strategy?"
"How do I get it to write content that actually sounds like me, and not like bland AI?"
"Is it ethical to use AI as a designer, a copywriter, a coach?"
"How do I know if I'm using too much of it?"
"How do I train it to create my graphics and my thumbnails?"
The list goes on, and on, and on.
The first time these questions arrived in a flood, I answered a couple of them in How to Use Claude for Content Creation, and they haven't slowed down since.
With the rate that AI models keep improving, this is a topic we're going to have to keep diving into, deeper each time.
So this quarter, we're going deep on AI and your content. Where the ethical line sits. The mistakes worth telling your AI never to make. How to write a blog in 2027 that still sounds like you. How to build your content pillars with it. And so much more.
Those practical guides come later this quarter. To kickstart the topic, we first need to discuss the landscape of the AI world right now, and more specifically, AI slop.
Global Audiences Are Splitting Into Two Groups
When it comes to content marketing trends, global audiences are splitting into two camps: the people who can spot AI and are instantly blocking accounts, judging it, and removing it from their feeds, and the people who don't care at all (maybe even enjoying it.)
The first camp has learned the key signs content is AI:
hands and faces that are almost right
a photo of someone that doesn't look like the person you've seen before
a video of someone talking where the voice and the mouth don't quite line up
thumbnails and graphics built out of the same templates
captions and posts that sound pretty but say nothing, overusing the same phrases
And the moment they catch one, they're out.
Because what it tells them is that nobody actually sat down and thought about this before publishing it, so why should they give you their attention if you didn't give it yours?
The second camp doesn't care. They find it funny, they find it entertaining, and they genuinely appreciate it. They're there for the stimulation and the quick access to pleasure, they're not checking whether any of the "facts" are actually correct, and plenty of them can't spot the differences between real vs fake.
Where to Draw Your Line With AI as a Personal Brand
As an entrepreneur, you're not going to opt out of AI. It's too useful, and let's get real, you have a business to run and any tool that can cut your expenses and reduce time between creation → delivery is a win.
So here's what you need to remember about AI: AI should be used as a tool, to help your creativity and your workflows, and not to replace you, your mind, your thoughts, or your creativity.
That's where real success for personal brands will be moving into 2027 and beyond.
Where Your AI Line Sits Depends on What You Sell, For Example:
If you're a designer or an artist, using AI to create your brand kit, or the art itself, isn't going to let you be as good as you could be.
If you're a copywriter, using AI to write your content and your clients' content isn't supporting your brand.
If you teach people how to use AI to create content, your line sits much further down the road. You should be using it for your content, your workflows and your SOPs, and talking openly about how you're using it.
Your AI is only ever as good as your brand is defined, and the bar you hold it to.
That's the whole premise behind building your brand step by step with Claude: it helps you draw the line between your creativity and AI, and use AI as a tool to enhance your brand, not replace you.
What Happens When Your Brand Has No Line Between AI and Creativity
When you haven't decided where you draw the line with AI, you use it everywhere without noticing when it's benefiting your brand, and when it's repelling your audience.
Here are a few examples for each platform demonstrating how AI is being used, both to create "AI Slop" content and also to use it as a tool to improve content performance:
On YouTube: AI channels are taking videos from big channels, ripping them off, and barely changing the thumbnail. It's happening to MrBeast. Kurzgesagt, the deep research channel, made a whole video called "AI Slop Is Killing Our Channel" about what it's doing to them. Then YouTube's own AI detector turned around and flagged one of their human made videos as slop.
On TikTok and Reels: fake news stories and carousels that portray "real-life events" that are genuinely not real, and low-effort meme style shows like Fruit Love Island, where AI fruit characters act out a reality series. One episode passed 39 million views, and the account posting them gained 3.3 million followers in a matter of weeks.
On Facebook: photos and videos of things that are "real, mind-blowing, and crazy" that have never actually happened, long-form written content that is copy-pasted word for word from other thought leaders/creators. AI video content of creators testing dozens of verbal hooks daily.
And none of this is one-sided. Some creators are using AI to test multiple angles, see what actually performs, and stay consistent without burning themselves out, and their brands are better for it. Others are pushing out low effort content hoping volume carries them, copy-pasting ideas from creators they admire with nothing original of their own added in.
How to Draw Your Own Line With AI
The line between creativity and AI is different for every brand. And when you don't know where yours is, or you've never defined it, that's when you can destroy your own brand.
Sit with these to help you map out your AI, content, and brand strategy.
Which parts of my brand are okay for AI to touch, and which ones aren't?
What am I already using it for, and did I ever actually decide that, or did it just happen?
If my audience could see exactly how this was made, would I still publish it?
What do people come to me for that no AI model can produce?
Where can I use AI to enhance my process? Where in my process would AI replace my original perspective/genius?
Write your answers down somewhere you'll keep them top of mind.
This month's Ask Irisel is all about AI, so if you're sitting with a question about how to use AI to enhance your brand or workflows, send in your question and I'll answer it at the end of the month.
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