The Rise of AI Slop: How Artificial Intelligence is Distorting Reality
In today’s digital landscape, two parallel image channels dominate our daily visual consumption. On one hand, we have real pictures and footage of the world as it is: politics, sport, news, and entertainment. On the other hand, there is AI slop, low-quality content with minimal human input that is infiltrating every aspect of our online lives. From social media timelines to messages circulated on WhatsApp, AI-generated content is becoming increasingly pervasive, and its impact on our perception of reality is profound.
According to a recent article in The Guardian, “there are two parallel image channels that dominate our daily visual consumption.” The article notes that AI slop, which includes “banal and pointless” content such as “cartoonish images of celebrities, fantasy landscapes, anthropomorphised animals,” is becoming increasingly common. Moreover, a new genre of AI slop has emerged: right-wing political fantasy. As The Guardian reports, “there are entire YouTube videos of made-up scenarios in which Trump officials prevail against liberal forces.”
The White House account on X has also jumped on the bandwagon, posting an image of a Dominican woman in tears as she is arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in a style reminiscent of Studio Ghibli. This type of content is not only spreading misinformation but also idealizing and sanitizing political scenarios by rendering them in triumphant or nostalgic visual language. As Prof Roland Meyer, a scholar of media and visual culture, notes, “generative AI is structurally conservative, even nostalgic.” He attributes this to the fact that “generative AI is trained on pre-existing data, which research has shown is inherently biased against ethnic diversity, progressive gender roles and sexual orientations.”
The spread of AI slop through huge and ubiquitous chat channels such as WhatsApp means that there are no replies or comments to challenge its veracity. As The Guardian notes, “whatever you receive is imbued with the authority and reliability of the person who has sent it.” This can lead to a situation where people believe and share AI-generated content without questioning its accuracy. For instance, the article cites an example of an online-savvy elderly relative who receives and believes a deluge of AI content on WhatsApp about Sudan’s war.
The use of AI to create and disseminate content is also having a profound impact on our visual culture. As The Guardian reports, “the range and scale of the content is staggering, and infiltrates everything from social media timelines to messages circulated on WhatsApp.” The result is not just a blurring of reality but a distortion of it. The article quotes journalist Max Read, who found that Facebook AI slop is “precisely what the company wants: highly engaging content.” This type of content is designed to boost engagement, giving creators the chance to make money based on shares, comments, and so on.
However, the outcome is an internet of robots, tickling human users into whatever feelings and passions keep them engaged. As The Guardian notes, “the overall effect of being exposed to AI images all the time, from the nonsensical to the soothing to the ideological, is that everything begins to land in a different way.” The article concludes that “you can’t believe your eyes, but also what can you believe if not your eyes?” This is a worrying trend, as it can lead to a situation where people become desensitized to the truth and are unable to distinguish between fact and fiction.
The rise of AI slop is a pressing concern that needs to be addressed. As The Guardian reports, “AI is already being described as the new aesthetic of fascism.” The article cites examples of AI-generated content that idealize white supremacy, autocracy, and fetishization of natural hierarchies in race and gender. This type of content is not only spreading misinformation but also promoting a divisive and discriminatory ideology.
In conclusion, the rise of AI slop is a worrying trend that is distorting our perception of reality. As The Guardian notes, “the result is profound disorientation.” It is essential to be aware of the potential risks and consequences of AI-generated content and to take steps to mitigate them. By being critical of the information we consume online and taking steps to verify its accuracy, we can reduce the impact of AI slop on our perception of reality.
Source: The Guardian
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