Don't Blame AI for Workslop
The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis
Nathaniel Whittemore
4.7 • 763 Ratings
🗓️ 28 September 2025
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Everyone is suddenly talking about workslop—AI-generated content that looks polished but lacks substance. This episode argues that the problem isn’t underperforming AI, but broken incentives and unnecessary busywork that AI is exposing. It explores why workslop is really an organizational issue, how to shift from inputs to outcomes, and what leaders can do to eliminate fake work and improve productivity.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In the wake of MIT's 95% study, now everyone is talking about the scourge of work slob. |
| 0:07.1 | So what is it? |
| 0:08.2 | Is it actually a thing? |
| 0:09.4 | And if it is a thing, what do we do about it? |
| 0:11.7 | The AI Daily Brief is a daily podcast and video about the most important news and discussions in AI. |
| 0:24.0 | All right, friends, quick notes before we dive in. |
| 0:26.4 | First of all, thank you to today's sponsors, Notion, Blitzy, Superintelligent, and Robots |
| 0:30.6 | and Pencils. |
| 0:31.5 | To get an ad-free version of the show, go to patreon.com slash AI Daily Brief. |
| 0:35.4 | And if you are interested in sponsoring the show, shoot us a note at |
| 0:38.4 | sponsors at AIdailybrief.aI.com. Welcome back to the AI Daily Brief. This being a weekend episode, |
| 0:45.3 | it seemed like the perfect time to dig into the latest study that is consuming an outsized |
| 0:52.1 | portion of media attention in and around AI. |
| 0:55.5 | Hot on the heels of MIT's endlessly referenced 95% failure rate study, |
| 1:00.6 | which you'll remember suggested that 95% of AI efforts were failing |
| 1:04.4 | and got just an absolute boatload of press before people realized that it was based on |
| 1:09.3 | interviews with 52 executives and a public |
| 1:11.6 | reading of earning statements where if an organization hadn't explicitly reported that |
| 1:16.2 | AI was contributing to revenue growth, that was considered a failure. |
| 1:20.8 | It's very clear that people are interested right now in narratives around AI underperformance. |
| 1:26.8 | And this week, that came home to Roost in and around this discussion of new research, |
| 1:31.3 | from a team up between Stanford Social Media Lab and BetterUp, |
... |
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