Yes — and you're not imagining it. Over half of new web articles are AI-generated. Merriam-Webster made "slop" their word of the year for 2025. The flood is ...
Yes — and you're not imagining it. Over half of new web articles are AI-generated. [Merriam-Webster made "slop" their word of the year](https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-of-the-year) for 2025. The flood is real and measurable. But what actually makes something "slop"? It's not that AI made it. It's that AI tools are now available to everyone — and most of what comes out goes straight online without anyone checking whether it's any good. No quality filter. No editorial eye. No professional standard applied. For someone experimenting and learning, that's fine. For anything meant to inform, educate, or serve people — it's a problem.
Verdict: This one is true. Probably understated. The internet is being flooded with AI-generated content at a scale that's making search worse, kids' platforms dangerous, scientific papers unreliable, and music streaming full of fakes. All at the same time. The damage is real, measurable, and affecting people who never asked to participate. Slop isn't an AI problem — it's what happens when powerful tools meet zero quality standards. AI made it possible for anyone to produce content. It's damaging when nobody between the tool and the publish button asks whether it's worth reading. "Slop" draws the only line that actually matters: not whether AI was involved, but whether anyone applied intent, skill, or care to what came out.