The term “work slop”—a workplace-specific hyponym of “AI slop”—has entered the lexicon. It communicates both frustration and judgment: frustration with a colleague’s output, judgment of how they produced it.

I can empathize with the frustration, especially when someone else’s AI-generated draft creates cleanup work for you. But the judgment is counterproductive. AI-assisted tools are here to stay, whether as new AI-native products or as features quietly embedded in tools we’ve used for years.

Consider that what looks like “work slop” is often a natural artifact of people calibrating. They’re learning where AI accelerates their work and where it undermines it, where it handles nuance and where it flattens it. That calibration takes reps, and some of those reps will miss the mark.

Don’t shame it—use it as a discussion starter. What worked? What fell flat? Build a culture where people can share AI techniques openly and refine their approaches together. The alternative—people hiding their AI use or abandoning it entirely out of social pressure—leaves value on the table and learning underground.