Inside the AI Slopocalypse: Why We’re Not Backing Down
Clearly, we’ve struck a nerve.
A conversation around “AI slop” is one we welcome. At its center are important questions society needs to wrestle with in the age of AI: What is art? Who decides what counts? What tools are allowed in its creation? What makes something valuable, worthy, or useful? Does something only matter if it is considered art, or can it still matter if it simply informs, teaches, or sparks a conversation, even if it does not come from a purely human perspective?
What do we think? Is our content art? For much of it, we think the answer is yes. Is it slop? For some of it, we also think the answer is yes.
We don’t have all the answers, and we don’t pretend to. But we do have open minds. We will not waste energy on bad-faith attacks, yet we’re always open to constructive discussion.
Some of our work is messy or experimental. That is part of innovation. We have been working with AI since before ChatGPT was public, when the tools were raw and more prone to hallucination. Much of that early work, which we now think of as our “kindergarten drawings stage,” is still online. Like many other podcasters, we look back on much of this early content and cringe. But we also value it as an audio archive of how far we’ve come, and as a historical record of how this incredible creative tool has developed over time. For a good laugh, check out one of our early shows, ironically titled “How Not to Suck”.
Even now, we do not claim perfection. When mistakes are flagged, we correct them. We’re constantly trying new formats, genres, and personalities. Some experiments surprise us and resonate widely; others fall flat. That is the point of experimentation: it teaches us and moves the field forward.
And here is the part that often gets overlooked: even our smallest shows find audiences. Of the more than 160,000 episodes we’ve made to date, the overwhelming majority have found a listening audience—what we define as more than 20 people. Those are real, third-party certified downloads. Is that meaningless? If a woman puts on a performance and 20 people show up, would you say it had no value—that she never should have made it? We believe worth is not only measured in scale; sometimes it is in delivering the right information to the right person at the right moment. That is worthy too.
This is especially true today, when media budgets are shrinking and local outlets are disappearing. In many places, there is no one left to tell the stories of a neighborhood, a diaspora community, or a niche interest group. AI-generated content can step in and fill those gaps. To us, that feels invaluable.
The demand tells its own story. Just this week, we’ve been flooded with requests for content: daily updates from a region of Pakistan, an audio study guide for exams, a local real estate report, a podcast for people caring for parents abroad, and many others. These are proof that AI can empower voices and serve audiences that traditional media has ignored. We believe this is the first time in podcasting history that ultra-niche content can be created profitably— as part of a sustainable business model— and serve micro-communities that have never had access to it before. Suddenly, parents across the country can hear about their daughters’ neighborhood T-ball game on Spotify and the daily happenings of a Discord channel or Reddit thread can be published in audio. Producing high volumes of content for such specific audiences just hasn’t been practical until now.
So, before writing it all off, we invite you to listen to our newer work. Ask yourself the same questions we are asking: Is it art? Is it valuable? Is it worthy? Even if your answers differ from ours, we believe the discussion itself is worthwhile.
Here are a few we like. We’d love to hear about your favorites.