February 20, 2026
Slopocalypse Now
I hate AI side projects
Dev says 'AI slop' killed side projects as crowd splits: raise the bar vs let them build
TLDR: A dev lamented that AI made side projects feel like indistinguishable “slop,” sparking a brawl over standards. Commenters split between raising the bar, improving filters, and celebrating that anyone can build—highlighting a new reality: it’s easy to ship, but brutal to get noticed.
A burned‑out builder posted a confession: AI made it so easy to crank out look‑alike demos that sharing side projects now feels like tossing one more padlock on an already sagging bridge. They still like AI—just hate the copy‑paste sameness. And the comments? Pure fireworks. simonw declared the new reality bluntly: “That bar just went through the ROOF…”—saying personal sites wouldn’t even get a glance anymore on Hacker News, a tech forum. tehjoker wants a higher standard (even rules) to nix low‑effort posts, while infecto roasted link‑drops that are really “an extended twitter sized rant.”
Not everyone was doom‑scrolling. dvt cheered the upside: if everyone can build now, the “idea guys” can finally prove it—“Just go build it, bro.” Meanwhile rspoerri said the real problem isn’t projects or AI, it’s our filters. With AI blasting out more content than ever, people need better ways (and instincts) to judge effort and quality. The memes wrote themselves: an AI slop buffet, “Show HN but make it Mad Libs,” and launch pages that look cloned from the same starter kit. The vibe? Raise the bar versus raise our filters, with one shared punchline: it’s never been easier to ship—yet never harder to stand out.
Key Points
- •AI has lowered barriers so that many people can build, increasing the volume of similar side projects.
- •The author used side projects to learn skills like deploying a web app on a VPS and running Python in the browser.
- •Past projects sometimes led to clients after minor virality and provided enjoyment and learning.
- •Many earlier projects could now be built quickly with tools like Claude Code, reducing their perceived novelty.
- •The author avoids browsing projects on platforms like Hacker News, Reddit, X, and GitHub due to low signal-to-noise, yet remains optimistic about AI’s impact.