“Slop, meaning nonsense generated by artificial intelligence (AI), was 2025’s “word of the year,” according to the dictionary folks at Merriam-Webster. That’s as it should be, as last year saw an explosion in the made-up material that is being generated by AI. Fake words. Fake images. Fake videos. Fake music. Fake social media posts. Fake weather reports. Fake. Fake, Fake.
Or, as Google’s AI platform Gemini put it slop “represents the explosion of low-quality, AI-generated digital content flooding the internet, from fake videos and news to junk books, reflecting public annoyance and a desire for authenticity. The term captures the sentiment around the vast amount of often messy, unoriginal content produced by artificial intelligence.”
“Explosion” is right, and I can’t think of any category of organization that enters 2026 unsullied. Politicians, celebrities, sports stars, cultural institutions, and corporations had their brands damaged by AI slop in 2025. Forbes got it right in its recent article, From Hype to Harm: The Stories That Shook AI in 2025. And increased reporting by other actual news outlets, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, among others, served as a public service by uncovering AI hallucinations in recent years. We blogged on AI hallucinations here.
Edgar Allan Poe was onto something when he wrote, in the middle of the 19th century, “believe only half of what you see, and nothing that you hear.”
Communications Tip of The Month:
AI has made communicator´s job easier and harder. Tackle the hard part by increasing your direct, face-to-face outreach with your customers, employees, community leaders, media outlets, and bussinesses in 2026. There´s no shortage of things to discuss.
Fighting AI Slop with Face-to-Face Communications
Question: So how do we as utility communicators speak authentically to our customers and other stakeholders amid this endless flow of AI slop?
Answer: Increase and expand your utility’s direct, face-to-face (F2F) interactions! Because it’s really hard to fake authenticity when you’re looking someone in the eye.
I’ve blogged on the importance of F2F several times over the years, before and after COVID (see “Resources” box at bottom of this post). It was a no-no during the peak of the COVID pandemic, of course. And the pandemic has blighted many people’s communications skills. So it may not be easy at first. Employees and retirees will have to get out of their comfort zones.
But for those organizations and individuals willing to try something under the banner of “all that is old is new again,” how about meeting up in person with customers, businesses, and other stakeholders?
What Shall We Talk About?
There’s no shortage of energy topics on your stakeholders’ minds. Let’s start with planned data centers. Concerns about the potential construction of data centers are breaking out all across the country. Dozens of project have been postponed or cancelled after customers got wind of plans by Big Tech companies to turn hundreds, or thousands, or tens of thousands, of acres of land in the local community into energy-gobbling, water-guzzling data center.
If your utility has been approached by a Big Tech company to explore construction of a data center, it’s probably covered under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Still, it makes sense for utility communicators to get busy drafting what is known as a standby statement, or talking points, to guide executives’ discussion with city councils, neighborhood associations, Chambers of Commerce, and the like. You will have to have those conversations in public sooner or later, and the longer you wait, the more stakeholder concern, or outright anger, you will have to diffuse. Start now!
Maybe you serve communities that are not exploring the construction of a data center. Other topics could include:
- How AI is being used at your utility (billing, social media, customer service, etc.)
- Clean energy plans
- Possible reactivation of fossil fueled power plants
- The need for increased local investments in poles, pipes, and wires to ensure reliable service
- New programs to make your service more affordable
- New leadership team or new strategic direction
Ultimately, the most important issue is not what you want to discuss. It’s what your stakeholders want to discuss. So given all the activity swirling around electricity, natural gas, water and the environment, and your utility’s role in delivering all of that, be prepared!
Photo credits: iStock unless otherwise noted
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Additional EEC resources on F2F communications:
- Utility Community Relations: Say “hello” to the People (AKA “Customers”) Who Pay Your Salary
- Rate Case Communications: Why This Time It´s Different
- Face-to-Face Communications Is Powerful, Post-Digital Communications Tool
- Do More Face-to-Face public Engagement!
- Your Utility´s New Feet On The Street
- Overcoming Email Immunity with Face-to-Face Communications