Slopping out?

I lost count in the end.

Our summer camping trip to Italy had its ups and downs to put it mildly. Driving into wildfires. A tent flattened by a storm. Don't mess with nature.

But the absolute nadir (and there were plenty of good bits too) was the communication on the Italian campsite.

Every sign, every poster, every promotion, the product of the same AI prompt and output. Ciao to a blanket of lookalike blandness. Arrivederci originality.

I'm sure your summer has been punctuated by the same visual wallpaper. A country show in Yorkshire I went to also suffered the same infection.

Which is why it's been a little reassuring to come back to talk of an AI slop fightback on, of all places, LinkedIn.

Yes, LinkedIn. Where various reports have placed the proportion of AI-generated content at around 50% for a while now and where there was until recently a button to let you generate your post by AI.

Now, it's suddenly a bastion of AI resistance. Its new 'Seems like AI slop button' was hit 1m times in the first two weeks.

Flagged posts are seeing their visibility slashed by up to 40% and perhaps most importantly, the AI 'creators' are now getting private warnings that their content is being monitored.

Their Creator Product Lead also provided a handy definition of what they class as AI slop: "Potentially sophisticated or polished in its presentation, but lacks substance."

So beware the text-enhancing swooshes and the telltale fonts - their reign of meh may be ending. Grazie LinkedIn.

​USE THIS: content and campaign ideas​

A bit late to the party with this one from the midst of the UK's own wildfire epidemic but this is brilliantly silly prevention content from Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service. With the engagement to show its worth.

(Get this type of creative and content inspiration first on the Creative Catch of the Day WhatsApp channel.)

AWARDS: two biggies open to enter

Autumn = awards season and two of the best for the public and charity sectors are open for entries.

There's split opinions on awards - are they just vapid showing off or genuinely valuable for teams and organisations?

All I know is the boost I've seen it give teams I've been working in and with is huge - recognition for a lot of hard work and motivation to reach even higher.

The comms2point UnAwards are completely free to enter and if you get to go to the ceremony, it's in a cinema and you get to watch a film - what more do you need?

The Orlo Spotlight awards also recognise excellence in campaigns and strategies for its customers in the public sector.

(Watch this space for another potential awards opportunity coming soon too...)

SOCIAL: The Round-Up

• ​New First Draft video editing feature for Insta
• ​And don't forget the importance of captions too, say Insta​
• ​Public Groups and Reels now cited in AI answers on Facebook​

​AUTUMN TRAINING: get it booked​

The appetite for training this autumn is certainly hotting up.

I'm already lining up sessions with teams across the country on campaigns, tone of voice and writing, behaviour change, storytelling and social.

If your comms needs spicing up in any of these areas, then click on the link below to find out more or drop me an email.​

​ AI: handy peek at how others are using it​

Really handy intel on how organisations are using AI, not just to churn out slop but genuine, canny time-saving stuff, courtesy of Orlo.

They're also running a webinar on September 16 using it as a partner and enabler too.

ABOUT US

​Turn The Page is a story-led communications consultancy, using the power of stories to create memorable, measurable campaigns, strategies and narratives.

Campaigns and comms led by stories are measurably more successful and improve engagement and trust.

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