The Hallmark dilemma

The slogan is “when you care enough to send the very best.”

But more accurately, it’s “when you don’t care enough to be on the hook.”

For a low-stakes social interaction, the Hallmark card is a convenient and safe solution. Low-risk, it gets the job done. People don’t blame you for letting someone from Kansas say a nice thing on your behalf.

Now, it’s happening at scale. If you want to be left off the hook, AI is a convenient excuse. Do what it says. Ask it what to dress up as for this Halloween, or what to write in your marketing copy. Let it design your website or write your resume. Perhaps you could have it write your wedding vows as well.

Our culture prizes convenience ahead of just about everything else, and AI slop is convenient. It saves us time but it also saves us emotional labor.

The dilemma is obvious. Unlike a Hallmark card, AI is available to do just about everything. And when we’ve streamlined our life to a convenient nub of its former self, then what?

There’s a different path. Insist that AI ask you questions. Challenge it to challenge you.

Then choose. Sign your work.

AI isn’t the cause of slop, and it’s not a good excuse for slop either.