This Year, We Found Ourselves Overwhelmed by a Flood of Clever Yet Meaningless AI Noise

There’s no doubt that 2025 will be remembered as the year of decline. “Slop,” a term for AI-generated content that is often off-base, bizarre, and visually unappealing, has infiltrated nearly every online platform. It is also starting to corrupt our hearts.

Sufficient slop has built up over recent years that scientists can now assess its long-term effects on people. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered that individuals using large-scale language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT exhibit significantly less brain activity compared to those who do not. This could adversely affect mental health as reports suggest that specific chatbots may encourage unhealthy beliefs and worsen certain mental health issues.

Furthermore, deepfakes have become ubiquitous, complicating the verification of truth online. A Microsoft study indicates that humans can distinguish between real and AI-generated videos only 62% of the time.

OpenAI’s latest application serves as a video sharing platform that is primarily AI-generated, except for one aspect: the app scans your likeness and integrates you and real individuals into the fictional scenes it creates. OpenAI’s founder Sam Altman has downplayed its significance by allowing users to create videos featuring him stealing GPU and performing skibbiddy toilet-style antics.

Yet, what about AI’s supposedly transformative effects on workplace efficiency? One study reveals that the introduction of AI has resulted in a decline in productivity, with 95% of organizations implementing AI reporting a lack of tangible returns on investment.

Slop devastates lives and careers. It is also eroding our historical narrative. As I work on a book about archaeology, I worry that future historians will look back upon the media from this period and criticize the layers of manipulative and false content. One key reason for recording our experiences, whether through writing or video, is to maintain a historical record of our activities. When I write, I aim to create a legacy that allows those living 5,000 years from now to understand who we were amidst the chaos.

AI chatbots recycle meaningless language. They produce content but not genuine memories. Historically, this may be more harmful than propaganda, which is typically crafted by people with clear intentions, reflecting societal issues and politics. Slop risks erasing our presence from our historical records, making it challenging to discern the intent behind it.

Perhaps the sole way to counteract our current cultural sloppiness is by coining words devoid of meaning. This might explain the emergence of the Gen Z “6-7” phenomenon in the mainstream. This term was designated, albeit nonverbally, as “Word of the Year” by dictionary.com. You can always default to saying 6-7 when lacking a specific response or for no reason at all. What will the future bring? 6-7. What impact will AI slop have on art? 6-7. How do we navigate a reality where jobs are scarce, violence escalates, and climate science is persistently disregarded? 6-7.

I would be intrigued to see AI companies attempt to create content around 6-7. Because humans remain one step ahead of the slop, inventing new forms of nonsense and ambiguity that can only be truly understood by another human.