What Exactly is AI Slop?

In a world where AI can write everything from emails to novels, a new term has emerged to describe the darker side of that convenience: AI slop.

You can argue it’s the internet’s new junk food. Cheap. Overprocessed. And everywhere. The flip side to that argument - "who cares"?

What Is "AI Slop"?

AI slop refers to low-quality, mass-produced content generated by artificial intelligence. Think repetitive phrasing, the overused M dash, and a lack of real insight or originality.

Think:

• Blog posts that say nothing new
• SEO pages stuffed with synonyms and fluff
• Fake reviews written by bots
• Product descriptions copied and spun endlessly
• Articles created entirely by LLMs with no human editing

The term “slop” paints a vivid picture: A feed poured out to fill content quotas, not to serve real users.

Where Is AI Slop Coming From?

• Content farms using AI tools at scale to generate thousands of pages per day
• Affiliate marketers gaming SEO with programmatic content
• Publishers or e-comm stores using AI to auto-generate product listings

Why It can be a Problem

• Erodes search quality. Real, valuable information gets buried under auto-generated sludge.
• Corrupts training data. When AI learns from slop, it gets dumber. Think LLMs eating their own garbage (see our post on Habsburg AI)
• Destroys trust. Users lose faith in websites that serve AI-generated nonsense.
• Harms creators. Original content struggles to compete with algorithmically mass-produced filler.

How to Spot AI Slop

• Overuse of generic phrases like "in today's fast-paced world..."
• No real sources or citations
• Uncanny tone: confident, but weirdly vague
• Lists that don’t say much (ex: "Top 10 Ways to Be Productive" with no substance)
• Stuffed with keywords but lacking flow or opinion

Who’s Fighting It?

• Google, with recent algorithm updates targeting unhelpful content
• Academic researchers building better AI detectors
• Platforms and media watchdogs calling out slop-heavy publishers
• Readers, who are increasingly aware of what quality looks like

But Do Consumers Really Care?

At what point does “AI slop” actually hit a nerve with your audience? Only time will tell. If people just want to be entertained or get a quick answer, AI-generated content might be good enough. But when they’re seeking originality, quality, or specific insights, that might be when it starts to matter.

Final Thought

AI slop is a symptom of content abundance without intention. But the antidote is simple: Make something worth reading.

If AI helps you write it, great. Just don’t let it write you out of the process.

Related Reads:

• Human-in-the-Loop AI: What It Really Means
• Generative AI for Dummies