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Work Slop: Why AI Shortcuts Are Costing Teams More Than They Save

Ever get an email, doc, or deck from someone and instantly think, “This is… not it”? In this episode, we’re digging into the rise of work slop—the vague, messy, low-quality output that shows up when AI is used as a replacement for thinking instead of a tool for support.

Kendra sits down with Sue Justice, founder of Emory HR, to talk about why this isn’t just an AI problem—it’s a performance, communication, and leadership problem that businesses can’t afford to ignore.

We explore:

What “Work Slop” Is (and Why It’s Growing)

• How AI-generated work becomes unclear, incorrect, or incomplete
• Why “slapping something together” shifts work to the next person
• The difference between using AI as an assistant vs. letting it do the job

This Isn’t a Tool Issue—It’s a Behavior Issue

• How people have always “phoned it in,” but AI makes it faster and more visible
• Why audiences and teammates can sense when work lacks human touch
• The real question leaders must ask: workload problem or character problem?

What Leaders Should Do About It

• When to coach and when to treat it as a performance issue
• Why a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) matters before cutting ties

How industry risk, trust, and legal exposure shape your response

Where AI Helps—and Where It Shouldn’t Lead

• Using AI for brainstorming or templates vs. high-stakes decisions
• Why contracts and policies need human tone, context, and accountability
• The risk of letting AI output become “authority” without review

Sue’s Biggest Marketing Lesson

• Why business owners shouldn’t try to do everything themselves
• How doing the wrong work wastes more time than it saves
• The sustainability link between delegation and quality

Whether you’re leading a team, outsourcing work, or using AI in your own business, this episode is a clear reminder: AI can save time, but only if humans own the standard. If the quality drops, the cost doesn’t disappear—it just lands on someone else.

“AI is meant to be an assistant… not the end-all ‘I’ll do it for you’ solution.” – Sue Justice

00:00:00
Introduction to Sue Justice and why HR belongs in this conversation
00:02:06
What “work slop” is and how it shows up at work
00:03:39
Why AI misuse is really a people/performance issue
00:06:53
Skill gap vs. character flaw: how to tell the difference
00:09:57
When work slop becomes a firing-level problem
00:13:05
Transparency, AI policies, and setting clear standards
00:19:01
AI adoption is everywhere—whether companies admit it or not
00:23:04
Sue’s biggest marketing lesson as a business owner

Connect with Sue Justice:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanajustice/

Website: https://emeryhr.com/

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