LinkedIn Update Regarding "AI Slop"

LinkedIn’s AI Slop Approach - update 9-2-2026

Ideas on how to avoid over-use of AI on LinkedIn and Why This is So Important for Economic Developers.

LinkedIn has moved fast to address the flood of generic AI-generated content on the platform. Chief Product Officer Hari Srinivasan called AI slop “a top priority” and rolled out a dedicated “Seems like AI slop” report button in the three-dot menu of every post and comment. You might have noticed some changes if you post a lot on LinkedIn. 

For many economic development leaders, LinkedIn is where:

• Local companies first see your programs and incentives.
• Site selectors and consultants gauge how active and credible your team is.
• Potential partners decide whether to take that first meeting.

If your updates, announcements, or thought‑leadership posts lose views, fewer companies hear about grants, expansion support, or new workforce programs. 

What LinkedIn is punishing is low‑effort, generic feed filler that could describe any person, any place, or any deal—and that’s exactly the kind of content many one‑click AI tools generate by default.  I think we are all getting better at recognizing slop when we see it. This is especially true with Cartoon - AI built images (at least for me). 

What LinkedIn is doing instead...

• Investing in tools that detect slop and other low‑quality content.
• Giving private feedback in your post analytics if your content is being perceived as AI slop. 

For you, that means two things:

1. Assume every post is scored on authenticity.
2. Treat LinkedIn like a reputation channel, not a dumping ground. Your posts should sound like you, reflect your community, and share concrete stories, not generic business clichés.

The upside: original video, real photos from projects, and honest commentary are now even more valuable. LinkedIn’s changes reward the kind of storytelling that economic developers are uniquely positioned to share.

Here's a great economic development example of a NO-Slop post from Trey Cash.
Follow Trey - you'll thank me later.

How to spot (and fix) AI slop patterns in your own LinkedIn posts

AI slop isn’t just “anything written with AI”; it’s the predictable patterns—generic phrasing, empty hooks, and recycled structures—that make your posts feel inauthentic.

If you’ve experimented with AI writing tools, you’ve probably seen these patterns. On LinkedIn, they stand out because your audience often knows how you actually talk in meetings, emails, and at events. When your writing suddenly shifts into a different voice, it’s a red flag.

Here are common signs your content is drifting into AI slop territory:

• The em dash habit you never had. Paragraphs are chopped up with em dashes—over and over—in a way you’ve never used before.  Here's a link to an article from Plagiarism Today (I'm not making this up!)  Em Dashes, Hyphens and Spotting AI Writing - Plagiarism Today   I have never used em dashes before so I had to look this up. Now I know what all the cool kids are talking about 👍
• The “not X, but Y” pseudo‑profound line. “It’s not a challenge, it’s an opportunity.” “It’s not about incentives, it’s about impact.” These show up everywhere in AI‑generated posts.
• Endless one‑sentence paragraphs. Each line is isolated for drama, forcing constant scrolling with no real substance.
• The fake engagement closer. Posts end with “Thoughts?” or “Agree?” without a real question, just to get low‑value comments. 

So, before you hit publish:

1. Read the post out loud. If you wouldn’t say it that way in a board meeting or company visit, rewrite it.
2. Highlight every cliché. Phrases like “game‑changer,” “unlock potential,” or “in today’s fast‑paced world” should almost always be deleted or replaced with specifics.
3. Count the specifics. Does your post mention a real company type (e.g., “metal fabricators with 50–200 employees”), a real program, or a concrete number? If not, add at least one.
4. Check the close. Replace empty prompts (“Agree?”) with a question that helps you learn something about your audience, like “What’s one expansion challenge your team is wrestling with right now?”

Consider this example transformation:

• AI slop version: “In today’s fast‑paced world, it’s not about incentives, it’s about impact. Economic development is changing and we must adapt. Agree?”  Yep. this is terrible!
• Human, specific version: “Last year we met with 47 local manufacturers; 19 told us their biggest barrier to expanding was finding mid‑skill talent. That’s why we’re piloting a 12‑week upskilling program with our community college. What’s the #1 barrier you’re hearing from employers?”

A simple workflow for using AI 

You can safely use AI on LinkedIn by treating it as a research and editing assistant—never a one‑click author—and always layering in your own voice, examples, and numbers before you publish.

Here’s a practical workflow you can adopt for busy economic development teams that still need to show up consistently online:

1. Start with a real moment. Pick something that happened in the last week: a company visit, a small win on a project. Make this a weekly habit to find 1 cool thing that you did last week. Create a story from this.
2. Use AI for rough structuring only. Ask a tool to outline two or three angles or help you tighten a draft you already wrote. Avoid prompts like “Write a LinkedIn post about…” and instead use “Suggest edits to this post I drafted.”
3. Insert your own details. Add:
   • One specific company type, sector, or local example.
   • One number (jobs, square feet, investment, participants) or metric.
   • One insight, something new that you learned.
4. Strip out slop signals. Remove the em‑dash overuse, the “not X, but Y” lines, the one‑sentence‑per‑line formatting, and the fake engagement hooks.
5. Add a clear, human call‑to‑action. Ask a question that would be useful even if only five people answered, such as “If you lead a local company, what’s one thing our team can help you with?"
6. Experiment with video and original visuals. LinkedIn continues to favor posts that keep people engaged on the platform. A quick 60‑second video filmed at a site visit, paired with 3–4 sentences of thoughtful text, is far less likely to be seen as AI slop—and often performs better than a text‑only block.

For example, instead of posting an AI‑written motivational thread about “resilience,” you could:

• Film a short clip outside a recently expanded facility.
• Share one concrete challenge the company overcame.
• Thank the partners who helped make it happen.
• Add one sentence inviting other companies to reach out if they’re considering expansion.

Over time, your LinkedIn presence starts to look like what LinkedIn is explicitly trying to promote: real people, real perspectives, and real work happening in communities.