We asked AAI Labs engineers a question: how do you avoid being an AI slop programmer? Their answers focused on the work around the code: understanding the problem, planning an approach, checking the result and taking responsibility for what ships.
Four habits to bring to your next task
- Plan before you build. Understand the domain and describe what a successful result looks like. Draft an approach, use the agent to challenge it and resolve open questions before implementation.
- Work in small steps. Keep each change small enough to review. Ask for the simplest solution that meets the task and check it before moving on.
- Verify the result. Read the actual diff, run meaningful tests and try the feature yourself. An agent’s summary of success is not evidence.
- Own what you ship. Be able to explain and defend the implementation. Get an independent review and turn repeated corrections into project rules.
Writing code can be delegated. Judgment remains your responsibility.
Download the guides
Both PDFs are in English.
- Download the AI slop cheat sheet (PDF, 1 page, English) — twelve habits to keep nearby while planning, building and reviewing work with AI agents.
- Download the engineering field notes (PDF, 5 pages, English) — the engineers’ answers grouped by theme, plus a PR-ready checklist you can adapt to your own workflow.