AI Slop in plain English.

AI slop is the term for low-quality, high-volume content generated by AI and pushed out with minimal human effort: filler articles built for search engines, surreal images farming engagement on social media, auto-generated product listings, and video channels narrating nothing in particular. The word caught on in 2024 and became mainstream by 2026 as the volume overwhelmed feeds, search results, and marketplaces. Slop is not the same as using AI to write — it is the absence of judgment, checking, or intent. Its consequences are practical: search engines and platforms now actively down-rank it, readers have grown suspicious of polished-but-empty text, and publishers who label and edit AI-assisted work carefully are distinguishing themselves from those who do not. Detectors help a little; taste and accountability help more.