Yesterday, I Rewrote a Client’s Intro Page—and AI Came Across Too Polished
At 4 p.m. Thursday, I was in Hangzhou revising the intro page for a photography studio. AI produced three versions in ten minutes. Every sentence was polished: “empower,” “immerse,” “create.” The client’s entire response was: “Is this really about me?”
I’ve gotten stuck here too. I even mistook “smooth writing” for “good writing” until one sentence of real client feedback made me realize I hadn’t delivered content at all—I’d handed over a template.
What Is No AI Slop? Not Banning AI, Just Refusing to Ship the AI Flavor
The Slop Manifesto is more of a writing checklist. AI can help draft, organize, and suggest, but a human should make the final judgment. The finished work needs specific experience, a clear position, and an authentic voice.
I know Lin Xiao, a freelance writer who sells knowledge products. When she writes sales pages for clients, she puts down her own judgment first, then asks AI to check only the logic and gaps. Chen Yue, an independent consultant in Shanghai, uses it to review emails. If a sentence contains plenty of information but could belong to anyone, he goes back and adds a real case.
Try It Today: Nearly Zero Cost, Ready in 30 Minutes
Money: The website is free: 0 yuan.
Time: Spend 10 minutes reading the principles, then 20 minutes testing one old piece of copy.
Technical barrier: No coding knowledge needed. Copy and paste is enough.
First step: Open the official site, scroll to the Manifesto page, and copy the review principles into your own writing checklist. Don’t apply all of them at once. Start with the one closest to your client’s problem—for example, “Rewrite if there’s no concrete scene.”
This isn’t a tool everyone needs. If you already value writing for the long term, bookmark it and pull it out the next time you’re racing a deadline.
Here’s How I’d Use It Based on Where You Are
If you’re just starting, I’d test it on your website intro and one social media post. The time saver isn’t writing more; it’s cutting sentences that could fit any business.
If you have one or two clients, I’d add the principles to your pre-delivery check and keep interview notes separately under “What decisions I made for the client.”
If you’re scaling, I’d turn it into a team review standard, but implement only three to five principles. Otherwise, the team may build another complicated process.
Want to try it today? Start with one old draft. Stop if it doesn’t work for you; you won’t lose anything.