In short:
- Artificial intelligence has changed the way many of us write content.
- Social media platforms like LinkedIn are now rife with AI-generated posts.
- In the rush to create, we’re losing many of the perspectives that make us unique.
The FIFA World Cup is upon us, so just imagine a game where every team used the same AI-generated tactics.
The same formations. The same set pieces. The same scripted movements across every blade of grass on the pitch.
Afterwards, the two head coaches give almost identical responses to journalists in the press conference.
Technically, there’s nothing wrong with the football. It’s all correct. The stats look fine.
Nobody makes a mistake that anyone will remember, but the whole thing is entirely forgettable.
Fans stop watching because there’s no flair. No risk. No personality.
No player you fall in love with because they’re capable of doing something only they can do.
That’s what much of the written content across the internet looks like right now.
Just a sea of AI-generated posts that are football’s equivalent of endlessly knocking the ball sideways in midfield.
Safe. Polite. Optimised. And completely uninspiring.
Why everything now looks and sounds the same
There’s a reason so many AI-detecting websites have sprung up across the internet.
One of them, Originality AI, studied almost 9,000 LinkedIn posts of more than 100 words between January 2018 and October 2024 and found that more than half of the latest posts published were written by AI.
“Fifty-four per cent of all long-form LinkedIn posts are likely AI (written),” Originality AI said at the time. They updated the dataset by sampling 99 additional profiles in 2025 and confirmed much the same.
The uplift coincided with the launch of OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022.
Ever since, we’ve seen a noticeable surge in LinkedIn posts that look and sound virtually the same.
“It’s not just X, it’s Y…”
You see it everywhere.
Generic phrases. Endless lists.
Polished but entirely predictable sentence structures, many of which contain the ‘it’s not just X, it’s Y’ pattern so many critics decry as a telltale sign of AI use.
So why is any of this a problem when it comes to writing a blog or publishing a post on LinkedIn?
Because it signals to the market that your own lived experience – the thing that helped you build your career and get you to where you are today – is less meaningful than sounding the same as everyone else.
The rise of AI slop – and how to avoid it
If there’s a phrase we’ve seen a lot recently, it’s ‘AI slop’. Macquarie Dictionary even named it the Word of the Year in 2025.
Put simply, it’s a derogatory term for the sheer volume of low-quality AI-generated content being pumped out across the internet on a daily basis.
Often containing errors or unverified information that get picked up and repeated with every subsequent AI-generated mention, we’re in danger of being swamped by a wave of content that no one asked for and which contains little substance.
Especially on LinkedIn, a place where so many strive to ‘add value’ but very few actually say anything worthwhile.
What authenticity actually looks like
Contrast the rise of AI slop with the footballers we all know and love.
Lionel Messi beating three defenders when an algorithm would advise him not to take the risk.
Cristiano Ronaldo attempting another audacious long-range strike just because he’s CR7.
Former Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou demanding his team be brave — even if it costs him his job.
That’s authenticity.
In other words, it’s this: sharing something that reflects who you genuinely are, not what an algorithm predicts will rise to the top in a sea of sameness.
Even the world’s biggest brands want you to rip up the script
There’s a reason Nike named their 2026 FIFA World Cup ad ‘rip the script’.
Online, authenticity works the same way it does in football.
Real opinions beat safe ones. Specific experiences beat generic insights.
Human voices are more trusted than polished abstraction and actually having a point beats merely starting a conversation for the sake of it.
Artificial intelligence can help you warm up your thinking, just like pre-game warm-ups help footballers prepare for the game.
But no one turns up just to watch training drills.
They turn up to see personality on the pitch. Decisive moments. Players taking risks.
That’s why authenticity matters more than ever.
Because no one remembers a perfectly executed sideways pass.
