AI Slop Is Destroying the Internet. These Are the People Fighting to Save It

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https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/features/ai-slop-is-destroying-the-internet-these-are-the-people-fighting-to-save-it/

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"AI slop" is a shabby imitation of content, often a pointless, careless regurgitation of existing information. It's error-prone, with summaries proudly proclaiming made-up facts and papers citing fake credentials. Images tend to have a slick, plastic veneer, while brainrot videos struggle to obey basic laws of physics. Think fake bunnies on trampolines and AI Overviews advising you to put glue on pizza.

The vast majority of US adults who use social media (94%) believe they see AI-generated content when scrolling, a new CNET study found. Only 11% found it entertaining, useful or informative.

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AI slop is an oil spill in our digital oceans, but there are a lot of people working to clean it up. Many are fighting for better ways to identify and label AI content, from memes to deepfakes. Creators are pushing for better media literacy and changing how we consume media. Publishers, scientists and researchers are testing new strategies to keep bad information from gaining traction and credibility. Developers are building havens from slop with AI-free online spaces. Legislation and regulation, or the lack of it, play a role in each potential solution.

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You see slop because it's being forced upon you — not because you've indicated to the algorithms that you love it. If you were to sign up for a new YouTube account today, a third of the first 500 YouTube Shorts shown to you would be some form of AI slop content, according to a report from Kapwing, a maker of online video tools. There are over 1.3 billion videos labeled as AI-generated on TikTok as of February. Slop is baked into our scrolling the same way microplastics are a default ingredient in our food.

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Much more at the link.