AI-Generated 'Slop' Threatens Internet Ecosystem, Researchers Warn

Researchers are sounding alarms about the proliferation of AI-generated content -- dubbed 'slop' -- that may be overwhelming the internet's human-created material. Fil Menczer, distinguished professor of informatics at Indiana University, who has studied social bots since the early 2010s, is now expressing serious concern about generative AI's impact. 'Am I worried? Yes, I'm very worried,' he told Bloomberg.

Another research from Georgetown University found over 100 Facebook pages with millions of followers using AI-generated images for scams. According to Tollbit, a company that helps publishers get compensated when their sites are scraped, web scraping volume doubled from Q3 to Q4 2024, causing significant strain on sites like Wikipedia during high-traffic events.

The situation creates a dangerous feedback loop where AI content is generated to please AI recommendation systems, potentially marginalizing human creators. Jeff Allen of the Integrity Institute told Bloomberg this resembles 'the algae bloom that can blow up and suffocate the life you would want to have in a healthy ecosystem.'

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