Avoid the ‘AI Slop’ Trap: Using AI for Strategic Learning and Development

Oct 13, 2025 | AI in Learning, Articles, Training Trends

Insights from a Recent L&D Trend Forecast Webinar, Presented by Litmos 

The promise of AI in Learning and Development (L&D) is seductive: instant content creation, personalized learning paths, and data-driven insights, all at the click of a button. But as organizations rush to adopt these new technologies, a darker reality is emerging—one filled with generic, uninspired, and often inaccurate content. This is “AI slop,” and it could be harming your L&D program.

In a recent Litmos webinar on L&D trends for fall 2025, this very issue was a central theme. While the potential of AI is undeniable, its misuse is creating a quality crisis at a time when high-quality learning has never been more critical. We’re in the era of “The Great Stay,” where employees are remaining in their roles longer, creating an urgent need for meaningful upskilling and reskilling. If your L&D program is serving up “AI slop”  instead of comprehensive, relevant, and compelling learning content, you’re not just failing to engage your employees—you’re actively pushing them away.

The Rise of ‘AI Slop’ – When Quantity Trumps Quality

So, what exactly is “AI slop” in the context of L&D? It’s the digital equivalent of junk food: mass-produced, low-quality content that offers little nutritional value. It’s the generic eLearning module that has no connection to your company’s culture, the poorly written job aid that’s more confusing than helpful, and the one-size-fits-all training that fails to address the specific needs of your learners.

The pressure on L&D teams to do more with less is immense. As Dr. Jill Stefaniak, Chief Learning Officer at Litmos, noted in the webinar, “I’ve yet to meet an organization where they said we have too many learning designers on our team.”

This resource scarcity makes the allure of AI-generated content almost irresistible. But as Dr. Stefaniak warned, this rush to quantity is coming at a steep price: “I think we’re going to start hearing from our learners in this next little while, [asking] where’s the quality, and wanting that quality.”

This isn’t just an L&D problem; it’s a business problem. As research from Stanford and Betterup Labs on AI and workplace productivity highlights, the “productivity gains” from AI can be misleading. If the content being produced is ineffective, then what are we really gaining?

According to recent research from Harvard Business Review, employees waste an average of one hour and 56 minutes cleaning up the workplace equivalent of AI Slop, often referred to as “AI workslop.” Based on estimated time spent by participants and their self-reported salary, HBR calculates that “AI workslop” adds around $186 per month in extra costs.

The Human-Centered Core of Instructional Design

The solution to low quality AI output isn’t to abandon AI altogether, but to remember the fundamental principles of instructional design, which is and always will be, a human-centered discipline. At the center of Learning and Development is empathy, a deep understanding the learner that guides instructional designers to create learning experiences that are not just informative, but transformative.

Countering rising concerns about whether AI could replace instructional designers, Dr. Jill Stefaniak recently wrote an article about the thoughtful application of AI in L&D, arguing that AI should be seen as a tool to augment, not replace, instructional designers. In the 2025 fall trends webinar, Adele Pfister, Product Manager for Customer Education at Litmos, perfectly incapsulated why human instructional designers aren’t going anywhere: “I don’t think AI could ever really replace us because it’s only as good as the data you feed it.”

Learners can spot “AI slop” from a mile away, and that goes for learning content too. That’s because, without human oversight, AI content can’t accurately reflect your unique company culture; it can’t empathize with a struggling employee, and it can’t create the kind of contextually rich learning experiences that lead to real skill transfer. That’s where L&D professionals come in.

Beyond Content Creation: AI Use cases in L&D

Effective designers are taking a strategic approach to integrating AI into their workflows, by treating it as a co-pilot rather than going on autopilot.

Here are the three ways that Dr. Stefaniak and Adele Pfister recommend using AI to enhance your L&D approach:

1) AI as a Data-Analysis Powerhouse

During the webinar, Adele Pfister shared that her number one use of AI isn’t content creation, but data analysis. AI can be a game-changer for measuring the impact of your L&D programs. It can analyze LMS data to identify trends, measure engagement beyond simple completion rates, and create compelling visualizations that demonstrate the ROI of your L&D efforts.

2) AI as an Administrative Assistant

Adele Pfister explored how AI agents may be able to automate manual L&D tasks like assigning training modules and grading assessment, freeing up L&D professionals to focus on what they do best: designing and delivering high-impact learning experiences.

3) AI as an “Unpaid Intern”

One of the most insightful comments from the webinar came from an attendee who described AI as an “unpaid intern.” This is the perfect mental model for how to approach AI. It’s a helpful assistant that can handle a variety of tasks, but it still needs human collaboration, guidance, and oversight. Use it to brainstorm ideas, polish storyboards, or break down a long course into micro-learning modules. But never, ever let it be the final decision-maker.

From ‘AI Slop’ to AI-Powered Strategy

The era of AI is here, and it’s not going away. But we have a choice. We can continue down the path of churning out low-quality content that alienates our learners and undermines our credibility. Or, we can embrace a more strategic, human-centered approach to AI.

Let’s move beyond the hype and focus on what truly matters: creating learning experiences that are effective, engaging, and impactful. Let’s use AI as the powerful tool it is, but never forget that the heart of L&D will always be human.

As Adele Fister urged at the end of the webinar, “Stay curious.” The future of L&D is not about being replaced by AI but about learning how to work alongside it to create a future where learning is more powerful than ever before.

Actionable insights for AI guardrails

Gain practical strategies for writing measurable objectives, setting ethical guardrails, and ensuring your training remains diverse, accessible, and grounded in research. In a recent eLearning Industry webinar, Dr. Jill Stefaniak joined Dr. Stephanie Moore (Associate Professor, University of New Mexico) to discuss how instructional designers can use AI to create learning content that’s still effective and accurate. Watch Keeping The Human Edge In AI-Assisted Instructional Design.