Slop artist
Noun: informal
A person who passes off Ai output as their own work
Okay so AI isn't going away, so how do we use this tool ethically? I'm not talking about GPU hoarding, electricity prices, or SORA 2 level of ethics. More of a friendly colleague trying to get more work done for the team kind of ethics.
A while back I remember seeing an article (and the link has left me) titled something like "Your AI code has a smell". And now AI coding tools are becoming more prevalent and easier to use, I'm starting to smell the AI code in some reviews I've done. But it's going beyond code reviews. I'm smelling AI in chat responses, design documents and documentation contributions.
Here's why this matters: when you pass off AI output as your own work, you're creating several problems. First, the team can't distinguish between your understanding and the AI's output. If something breaks or needs clarification later, we need to know who actually understands the system. Second, you're missing learning opportunities. That AI-generated code you didn't review properly? You're now responsible for maintaining it without understanding it. Third, it erodes trust. Once someone realizes you're passing off AI work as your own, they'll question everything you submit.
The thing is, using AI as a tool is completely fine. It's no different than using Stack Overflow, documentation, or asking a colleague. The difference is honesty. When you reference documentation, you cite it. When a colleague helps, you acknowledge them. AI assistance deserves the same transparency.
I came across an interesting badge the other day. At first I thought "how silly, who needs a badge for this?" But the more I see AI slop in pull requests and design docs, the more I understand the impulse. When you can't tell what someone actually understands versus what they've copied from ChatGPT, how do you know they can maintain it? How do you know they've thought through the edge cases?
So don't be a slop artist. Own your use of AI.
The goal isn't to avoid AI. It's to be honest about what thought you've put in and where you got help. Your colleagues will respect you more for it.
N.B (23/10/25): I wrote a rant post and told claude to "fix it" to get this out of my drafts