Author(s): Dr. Mohit singhal

Originally published on Towards AI.

AI can create almost anything in seconds, but a growing number of artists and businesses believe fast and cheap should never replace creativity, personality and human connection

A few years back, if you wandered into a local pub, restaurant, or tiny music venue, you could count on finding posters and menus that all looked totally different. Some looked sharp and professional; others were downright scrappy, maybe even a bit messy. But no matter the quality, you could always tell: someone actually made this.

After the lead, the article contrasts the pre-ChatGPT world—where designers and artists were paid, collaborated locally, and even imperfect work carried human personality—with the AI era, where restaurants and businesses can generate polished flyers and posters instantly and cheaply. It argues that the result is often “AI slop”: visually competent but soulless, generic, and sometimes uncanny (like too many fingers or weird details), which causes creative work to blur together in public spaces. The piece highlights specific frustrations from creatives such as designers and printers who refuse AI files, and it explains how “savings” can quietly dry up local creative industries when companies skip hiring neighbors. While the author acknowledges AI can be a helpful tool for brainstorming or automating the boring parts, the core claim is that human creativity matters because it produces real experiences, stories, and relationships that bots can’t replicate. The article ends by urging people and businesses to choose AI appropriately—or opt out when art deserves human judgment—so originality and community aren’t replaced by an endless stream of forgettable, lookalike output.

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Published via Towards AI