Mind the Model: The Modern Marketer's Guide to AI
Cat McGinn - EP:016
Cat McGinn on Taste, Grit, and the AI Slop Problem Everyone's using the same models, the same prompts, the same tools - so what actually makes your work different? Cat McGinn, curator of the HumAIn Conference, joins Em and Nate to talk about the thing AI can't manufacture: taste. From the platforms now actively fighting AI slop to why friction might be the most underrated ingredient in good creative work, Cat brings a sharp, no-BS read on where AI is helping the industry and where it's flattening it. Episode 16 covers: The HumAIn Conference : how it's evolved over four years, from early experimentation to AI being fully baked into daily workflows. Cat unpacks what makes a speaker genuinely provocative (versus just loud on LinkedIn) and gives us the first look at the conference's new workshop labs. The "AI Slop" problem : Substack, LinkedIn, and Spotify are all rolling out features to fight AI-generated content spam. Cat breaks down what that says about where the algorithm-vs-authenticity fight is headed next. Taste vs. the average : Cat's take is that taste is "the refusal of the average," and why real creative distinctiveness means pushing past whatever an LLM would default to. The value of friction and grit : why the more frictionless our tools get, the more human resilience and live, imperfect experience matter for genuinely effective creative work. Resources & Links HumAIn Conference: humain.au — use code MTMP for 20% off tickets, workshops, or the full two-day pass ACAM 2026 AI Benchmark Report: acam.ai/2026-ai-benchmark-report Spotify's AI Persona labels & recommendation crackdown: newsroom.spotify.com/2025-09-25/spotify-strengthens-ai-protections Substack's AI detection tool (via Pangram): support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/50891130623508 LinkedIn's "Seems like AI slop" button: techcrunch.com/2026/07/30/linkedin-adds-a-button-to-report-ai-generated-slop If you liked this episode, follow, rate, and share Mind the Model with your fellow AI-curious friends — it really helps us grow! Got thoughts or ideas for future episodes? Drop us a message at mindthemodelpod@gmail.com .
