"A few staffers are generating slop, because they haven't done any thinking before they prompt," complained a CMO from a Series B tech startup. Having gained the Huddles’ attention, he added, "Then they massage it 77 times to pretend that they're doing work."

Nods of “been there, seen that” ricocheted across the Zoom windows.

I held my tongue for a moment. Then came my questions. Did they have writing skills before they took the job? No. Had they been trained on the tools? Yes. Are there editors helping them understand what good looks like? One. And she’s swamped.

This CMO is hardly alone. Versions of this conversation are happening in marketing departments everywhere as teams race to adopt AI.

And yes, the slop is real.

The Problem Isn’t AI

The deeper issue isn’t AI. It’s writing. AI will not turn bad writers into good ones, and it definitely won’t turn them into great ones. Good writing starts with clear thinking.

My AP English teacher, Mr. Ulander, drilled something into us that has stayed with me for decades: “If you can’t write, you can’t think.” Still true.

We Need More Martys

As an assistant AE at JWT, every conference report and client proposal I wrote was heavily edited by my boss Marty Susz. His edits were so comprehensive that the documents looked like redacted CIA reports. Six months later, the edits were minimal.

Not because Marty got nicer. Because I got better.

Most senior marketers I know had a Marty somewhere in their early careers. Someone who forced us to think harder, write more clearly, and strip away lazy ideas disguised as prose.

Who was your Marty?

Raise the Bar

Here’s the leadership challenge today. AI tools can generate endless drafts, but they can’t fix weak thinking. And if we flood the world with mediocre content, marketing will lose credibility with CEOs, sales teams, buyers, and increasingly with machines deciding what shows up in LLMs.

Slop won’t help with SEO or AEO. Or customers.

So CMOs have a job to do.

It starts with hiring. Critical thinking is hard to teach, but curiosity can be spotted early. Hire lifelong learners who already show writing aptitude and the hunger to improve.

Then set a quality bar. “Good enough” cannot mean “the AI produced something readable.” It has to mean thoughtful, differentiated, and unmistakably on brand.

Bring editors back. Great writers are developed through rigorous feedback, not endless prompt tweaking.

And finally, use AI to reinforce standards, not lower them. Imagine a Brand GPT that checks every piece of content for clarity, originality, and voice before it ships.

AI can accelerate great thinking. But it cannot replace it.

If we want the next generation of marketers to distinguish between slop and substance, we’re going to need a lot more Martys in the world.

Pass It On

So I’m curious… Who taught you to write?

And are you giving that same gift to the next generation of marketers?

Thanks, Marty.

Written by Drew Neisser