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[ARTICLE · art-15928] src=news.ycombinator.com pub= topic=generative-ai verified=true sentiment=↓ negative

Do they know we can tell it's AI slop?

A chief technology officer is struggling with how to tell the entrepreneurs he works for that their use of AI-generated content in business communications is damaging their credibility with sophisticated audiences. The CTO cited three recent examples where AI-generated emails and documents led to lost respect from a fired SEO firm, a job candidate, and during a financial procedure review. The dilemma highlights a growing workplace tension between the efficiency of AI tools and the risk of appearing inauthentic to key partners and stakeholders.

read1 min publishedMay 28, 2026

What do I do when the entrepreneurs I work for send out AI slop in their communications?

I work for a great group of entrepreneurs as CTO/fCFO. They are all sales guys. In my childhood and professional career, I have seen so many toxic partnerships. I don’t waste any time on those anymore and I genuinely respect the guys I work for.

So, to the main question, what do I do when it’s blatant that they are just copying AI slop from Grok or chatGPT? I notice it all the time. But I genuinely respect these guys (unlike my son’s inadequate math teacher who pastes AI slop into emails to me…). It’s an 80/20 issue. For a majority of their audience, they make a positive and knowledgeable impression. But for the rest of us, it’s it takes them down a notch. I don’t want them embarrassing themselves in front of our bankers/financers/corporate partners.

Three recent examples: (1) Critique of a new SEO site pre-launch. We ended up firing the firm, but they lost all respect once the email was sent. (2) interviewing a new controller, so apparent when they pulled out canned questions from an LLM. (3) a proposed job costing procedure for a new entity/line of business. A 10 page document like I was used to seeing when I worked at public companies. Disconnected from the current state of the business.

I love these guys. Is it possible to send a message about how they are viewed without offending?

Comments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48303252](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48303252)

Points: 2

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