Artificial Intelligence is helping people work faster, but at the same time, there is an unprecedented wave of poor quality content.
In 2025, this phenomenon is so serious that Merriam-Webster's Literature chose "slop" as the word of the year, as a warning about the negative side of AI.
According to Merriam-Webster, slop is currently defined as low-quality digital content, often mass-produced with artificial intelligence.
The classic publisher over 180 years old said that never before has a slang term clearly reflected the reality of a digital society like this.
Merriam-Webster believes that the "smiling wave in 2025" is the rampant of silly videos, distorted advertisements, cheap propaganda, fake news like real ones, crap-written AI books, meaningless work reports that waste time, along with countless "talking skills" videos online.
A report by The Guardian earlier this year showed that 9 out of the 100 fastest growing YouTube channels rely on AI content, such as unreasonable shorts about cats, Japanese or sports fictional characters.
In the face of this situation, YouTube has tightened its money-making policy, requiring content to be more original and realistic.
However, the problem does not stop at adults. Bloomberg said YouTube Kids is flooded with AI-generated videos aimed at children under two years old, combining real images with artificial reading voices. Experts are concerned that this content can negatively affect the perception and brain development of young children.
Slop also penetrates deeply into the office environment. A study by the Harvard Business Review shows that many employees use AI to create sketchy, unthinking work products, forcing colleagues to repair or rework. This phenomenon is called "crazy work", reducing labor productivity and quality.
While Wikipedia, Spotify and Pinterest have taken a move to limit AI overuse, some large technology companies are going in the opposite direction.
Meta and OpenAI continuously launch applications and platforms that prioritize displaying and sharing AI-generated content, contributing to the expansion of "slop" on the Internet.
Recent research by MIT shows that AI chatbot such as ChatGPT can impair critical thinking ability, memory and cognitive depth if abused.
Although there is no final conclusion, many scientists warn that long-term exposure to slop can have a negative impact, especially on children and adolescents.
slop becoming the word of the year is not only a language choice, but also a warning bell when AI develops too quickly, human content quality and thinking ability are at risk of being left behind.
