Why the Best AI Users Aren't Using AI the Most
How human skills and fundamentals separate high-value work from workslop
It’s no secret that every company wants to use AI. Organizations are racing to adopt AI in their workflows, driven by the promise of higher productivity and the fear of falling behind. But here’s the catch: when you adopt AI “everywhere, all the time,” you risk creating workslop.
What is workslop?
Just like social media, which is getting flooded with low-quality AI-generated posts, workslop is AI-generated work that lacks the substance to solve a problem. On the surface level, it looks polished and professional. But as you dig deeper, you will find context missing and details that don’t quite add up. Ironically, you end up spending more time cleaning up the workslop than you saved by using AI in the first place.
The cost is real. According to this article: “employees spend an average of one hour and 56 minutes dealing with each instance of workslop. Based on time spent and self-reported salaries, these incidents carry an invisible tax of $186 per employee per month. For an organization of 10,000 workers, given workslop’s estimated 41% prevalence, this translates to over $9 million per year in lost productivity”.
Talk about ironic, right? We adopt AI to save time, then spend even more time fixing what it produced.
Cue Alanis Morissette: the irony is almost too perfect.
Why is this paradox happening?
Humans naturally seek the path of least resistance. It’s what drives innovation: our desire to work smarter, not harder, pushes us to find solutions that make our lives easier. However, when it comes to AI, there’s a distinction between people who use it thoughtfully and those who use it to disengage.
This brings me to my point that AI is not a replacement for human thinking. In the right hands, AI is powerful and can save hours of work. But AI only amplifies what’s already there. If you use it to take shortcuts instead of augmenting your capabilities, that will be reflected in your output.
The professionals who will stand out in the age of AI are those who master two things:
Strong fundamentals in their field
Well-developed human skills
The importance of fundamentals
AI amplifies what’s already there. It’s exciting that someone with no coding experience can now use AI to build interesting projects at a personal level. I always encourage curiosity and learning, so if AI enables you to create something cool, go for it.
However, there’s a significant difference between building a personal project and developing something that must be implemented at scale, especially when there’s real liability on the line. When errors can cost money, damage reputations, or harm users, we need professionals who understand the fundamentals and can guide AI to accomplish specific goals. The professionals who will stand out use AI as an augmentation tool, not a crutch. They keep their hands on the wheel: AI might press the accelerator, but humans do the steering.
The importance of human skills
Critical thinking is only one of the many essential human skills when working with AI. Human skills enable us to ask the right questions:
How important is this work?
What’s the context?
How tangible are the results?
How can I validate this output?
The professionals who ask these types of questions and don’t outsource their thinking to AI will avoid workslop and deliver high value.
A note for leaders
If you’re in a leadership position, understand the difference between adopting AI sloppily (pun intended) and adopting it thoughtfully. Words like “guardrails” and “governance” aren’t sexy, but they’re what will separate quality work from workslop.
The bottom line
AI isn’t going anywhere, and neither is the need for human judgment. As we navigate this transformation, the question isn’t whether to use AI, but how to use it wisely. The organizations and professionals who invest in developing both technical fundamentals and human skills will be the ones creating real value, not just more work.
Whether you’re an individual contributor or a leader, here’s how to avoid the workslop trap:
Strengthen your fundamentals: AI amplifies expertise, it doesn’t create it
Develop a validation practice: always review and question AI outputs
Invest in human skills like critical thinking, context awareness, and judgment
If you’re leading a team, establish clear guidelines for AI use
The professionals and organizations that thrive won’t be those who use AI the most, but they’ll be those who use it the best.
Thais