LinkedIn® is drawing a much clearer line between using artificial intelligence to help create content and publishing low-value material that happens to have been generated with AI.
On 15 September 2026, LinkedIn said its recent measures had reduced views of content classified as “AI slop” by 40%. More than one million members used its “Seems like AI slop” feedback option within the first two weeks, according to the company.
LinkedIn is also changing its own writing tools. Its previous AI-powered post enhancement feature has been replaced by a more constrained writing assistant focused on reviewing, shortening and clarifying a member’s own draft.
The important point for anyone publishing on LinkedIn is not “AI is bad”. LinkedIn’s own guidance is more useful than that.
How LinkedIn defines AI slop
LinkedIn describes AI slop as low-effort, likely AI-generated material that can appear polished but lacks a clear point of view, distinctive perspective or substance. It also points to content that is generic, repetitive, recycled or designed mainly to game attention.
That definition matters because it focuses on the quality and value of the output, not simply whether an AI tool touched the writing process.
LinkedIn’s current guidance explicitly says AI-assisted content is welcome when it still reflects a real person’s perspective, experience or expertise.
What LinkedIn is doing about it
The “Seems like AI slop” feedback option gives members a specific way to signal that a post or comment feels low-value or inauthentic. LinkedIn says those signals help inform classifiers used to improve feed quality.
If a post receives enough community feedback, its author may see private feedback in post analytics. LinkedIn says this does not mean the post has been removed or that a policy decision has been made against it.
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The company is also targeting automation. LinkedIn says it is catching hundreds of thousands of automated comment attempts every day and has blocked billions of automated activities over recent months.
LinkedIn is changing its own AI writing tools too
This is perhaps the most revealing part of the change.
LinkedIn has moved away from a feature designed to “enhance” a post and towards a writing assistant that keeps the member’s original draft visible and lets the member review suggested edits before accepting them.
The current options are Review, Shorten and Clarify. LinkedIn says changes are shown inline and are not applied until the member accepts them.
That is a materially different philosophy from asking AI to generate a polished LinkedIn voice on somebody’s behalf.
The lesson is not to stop using AI
AI can be useful for proofreading, challenging an argument, organising notes, identifying gaps, improving clarity and helping somebody turn genuine expertise into understandable content.
The problem begins when the tool becomes the source of the expertise rather than a tool used to communicate it.
A technically polished post can still say very little. Conversely, a post developed with substantial AI assistance can contain genuine insight if the ideas, judgement, examples and experience actually come from the person publishing it.
That distinction is becoming increasingly important on LinkedIn.
What this means for leaders and businesses
For leaders, the safest long-term content strategy is also the most defensible one: publish things you genuinely know, believe, have observed or can contribute to.
For businesses, particularly those using LinkedIn® Company Pages, volume should not be mistaken for presence. Publishing more generic posts does not automatically build more reputation.
Useful company content has evidence behind it: expertise from employees, lessons from customers, informed commentary, original data, operational experience or a distinctive organisational point of view.
That is why I describe LinkedIn as reputation infrastructure rather than a social media performance exercise. If the material does not strengthen what somebody understands or believes about the people and organisation behind it, producing more of it solves very little.
A useful test before publishing
Ask a simple question: what in this post could only realistically have come from us?
If the answer is an experience, opinion, observation, example, piece of evidence or specialist knowledge, AI can help communicate it.
If the answer is “nothing”, rewriting the same generic idea more fluently is unlikely to fix the underlying problem.
Sources
- LinkedIn: How LinkedIn is Continuing to Tackle AI Slop — 15 September 2026.
- LinkedIn Help: Best practices for content created with the help of AI.
- LinkedIn Help: Post Writing Assistant for LinkedIn posts.
Leaders Social will continue to track changes to LinkedIn’s treatment of AI-assisted and low-quality content.
