Why I’m Saying No to AI Slop

It’s been quiet here for a while.

Not because nothing’s happening, but because I’ve been taking a step back and thinking about what I actually want Waterlane Studios to be.

Over the past few months, AI content has exploded. It’s everywhere now — in our feeds, on YouTube, across social platforms. And a lot of it feels rushed, churned out, consumed quickly, and just as quickly forgotten.

I see it the same as anyone else. My own feeds fill up with it at times.

And the truth is, I could easily join in.

I now have the tools to produce content quickly. I could make several short videos a day if I wanted to… And this is the truth; at times I’ve been tempted to. It would work better with the system. It would likely bring more views.

But that isn’t what I want to build.

I want to make stories, short and long, that come from me. Where AI is used as a tool and where/when possible, treated as a co-worker. A means to an end: a modern tool for helping bring the finished story into being, not just feeding the machine.

Part of the reason things have been quieter here is because I didn’t want to get pulled into that cycle of constant production. Chasing views, chasing output, always needing to post the next thing. It’s easy to slip into that, especially when everything around you pushes in that direction.

So I stepped back.

Not completely - but enough to think.

Behind the scenes, I’ve still been working. Building a new website. Developing ideas. Slowly shaping projects like The Traveller, and continuing work that feels closer to what I actually want to create.

What I’ve been doing might seem a bit scattered from the outside. Different styles, different types of videos, not always following a clear pattern. Some of that has been simply exploration - learning tools that have changed rapidly, and figuring out how they fit into a creative process that still feels human.

Because for me, that’s the difference.

Just because I can make more, doesn’t mean I should.

Waterlane Studios was never meant to be about producing as much content as possible. It’s about making something with intention - something shaped, considered, and worth the time it takes to create. Something with a ‘soul’…

AI video generation is still finding its feet. The tools are improving almost weekly, but they’re not quite there yet. Not in a way that makes this kind of work straightforward. In some ways, that makes it harder to build something steady, when the ground keeps shifting. But it also feels like part of the process right now. Learning the tools as they evolve, and shaping the work alongside them.

Through AI, you can now generate endless variations; a thousand different cat videos, each slightly different, without much effort. But trying to create just a few pieces that stay consistent; with characters shown from different angles, at different times, in the same locations, with the same room, the same feel, the same world - is still very limited.

The tech still changes weekly, which also changes the craft - but the ‘vision’, the ideas and desire to create ‘unique’ stories remains just as strong. Hopefully, that comes through in what follows.

Waterlane Studios is not a place for churning out AI slop – I can’t promise what I make will be what you want, but behind each new piece of work there will be human thought, care and drive…

The next piece I’m working toward is a new Frankenstein song, and I’ll share more on that soon.

David