Priya Bharadia , The Guardian; Cat soap operas and babies trapped in space: the ‘AI slop’ taking over YouTube
"One expert said AI video generators herald the next wave of internet “enshittification”, a term first used by the British-Canadian author Cory Doctorow. Coined in 2022, Doctorow used it to describe the decline in quality of users’ online experiences, as platforms prioritise profit over offering high-quality content.
“AI slop is flooding the internet with content that essentially is garbage,” said Dr Akhil Bhardwaj, an associate professor at the University of Bath’s school of management. “This enshittification is ruining online communities on Pinterest, competing for revenue with artists on Spotify and flooding YouTube with poor quality content.”
“One way for social media companies to regulate AI slop is to ensure that it cannot be monetised, thus stripping away the incentive for generating it.”
Ryan Broderick, the author of the popular Garbage Day newsletter on internet culture, is scathing about the impact of AI video, writing last week that YouTube has become a “dumping ground for disturbing, soulless AI shorts”.
