The Era of AI Slop: why human creativity has become the true luxury asset

Beyond “Digital Junk Food”: How Governance Transforms Artificial Intelligence from a Noise Generator into a Strategic Value Lever against AI Slop.

It is not a technological crisis. It is a crisis of relevance.

At Spencer & Lewis, we have been saying it for a long time: we are humans governing Artificial Intelligence. Today, however, that statement is no longer enough. If yesterday’s theme was access to technology, today the true differentiator is the strategic use made of it.

We have entered the era of AI Slop: an overproduction of synthetic content, formally flawless but strategically irrelevant, that is saturating feeds and eroding the perceived value of communication.

Like junk food, “Slop” is not immediately toxic. It becomes so over time: it anesthetizes attention, reduces trust, and erodes brand reputation. The point is not that AI produces mediocre content; the point is that it produces it too well, too fast, and at near-zero cost, making it impossible to distinguish between what deserves attention and what does not.

For a brand, using AI simply to “fill the calendar” is no longer an operational optimization. It is a strategic choice with business consequences.

When the cost drops to zero, value is also at risk

In a market where the cost of content production tends toward zero, communication is entering a new phase: the commodity trap.

Artificial Intelligence, by its nature, works on averages. It replicates existing patterns, recycled aesthetics, and pre-approved languages. The result is communication that is perfect, polished, optimized… and utterly powerless against the scroll.

Here lies the paradox: when everything is content, nothing is significant.

Continuing to produce messages just because “you can” does not build value; it dilutes it.

This is the true risk of AI Slop: the more you communicate, the less you are heard. In the long run, this has a direct impact on brand equity, pricing power, and credibility.

The real asset today is not output. It is context.

At Spencer & Lewis, we believe value no longer resides in the simple capacity to produce, but in the expertise required to define the correct context in which a message should, or should not, exist.

AI can generate a form, but it lacks the sensitivity to decide why a message should be launched today or which specific business challenge it must solve. It cannot evaluate reputational risks or, even more importantly, understand when the most strategic choice is to remain silent.

Without human guidance, Artificial Intelligence remains an orchestra without a conductor: it produces sound, but not music. This is the space where the difference is made between those who use AI as a mere noise multiplier and those who transform it into a strategic value accelerator.

Strategic Governance: The antidote to Slop

Taking a stand against Slop means aligning with CEOs and CMOs who share the same problem: distinguishing what generates value from what merely consumes attention. Our methodological vision starts with a clear choice: technology must be governed, not followed.

We do not simply ask AI what to communicate; we use it to empower a strategic vision defined upstream. This approach radically shifts the role of the agency from a mere technical executor to a strategic partner capable of deciding when to communicate, when to stop, and when to change course.

In this model, human time is not used to produce massive volumes, but to make better decisions that make the brand’s final value defensible in the market.

Authenticity is not an ethical value. It is a competitive advantage.

In an ecosystem saturated with synthetic content, authenticity is no longer a matter of style. It has become a luxury asset.

Being strategists who govern AI means taking on a responsibility: every message must have a reason to exist, not just a format to occupy.

Human creativity has not been replaced; it has been elevated. It is no longer needed to produce; it is needed to decide what is truly worth saying.

At Spencer & Lewis, we don’t create content to fill space. We create strategic directions that transform communication from an operating cost into a lever of lasting value.

Because in the era of AI Slop, the true luxury is not saying more. It is knowing when, why, and for whom to speak.