4 ms·
Slop is the new name for unwanted AI-generated content
- Jerrrry 3y agoI was actually pondering the new delineation yesterday; the line between spam, propaganda, trolling, and censorship was never too fine as it is now. I like the term slop. I needed the word yesterday.
- slowhadoken 3y agoSlop is an old term for allowed overlap between objects.
- valbaca 3y agoas a contrast to "slip" right?
- slowhadoken 3y agoContrast? Not that I know of. Slip is a type of collision resolution that allows obstacles to slide off each other instead of just stopping. Similar to a circle rolling with slipping down an incline.
- barbazoo 3y agoStop trying to make slop happen, it's not gonna happen.
- simonw 3y agoI think it's happening. 2.3k likes on the tweet I quoted, and my Mastodon post with a screenshot of that tweet got 655 boosts already (which is a lot in that space). https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon/112402587787781767 https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon/112402587787781767
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- waterguy12 3y ago[flagged]
- throwawayslop 3y ago[flagged]
- wincy 3y agoWhat? I used the word “slop” when I was a kid to describe feed for pigs on the farm in the early 90s. You’re definitely wrong on this one.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- isoprophlex 3y agoWell 4chan also weaponized a cartoon of a frog, cheese pizza, ... Let's not give them too much attention.
- simonw 3y agoWhoa, really? I've been using the word "slop" my whole life for unappetizing food, is that 4chan slur used outside of that community?
- jerf 3y agoNo, and your post disproves it. The term is well older than 4chan and the relevant noun meaning (the "semiliquid food" sense) dates back to 1650: https://www.etymonline.com/word/slop https://www.etymonline.com/word/slop I'm not sure if that encompasses "pig slop" which is what this is really tapping into, but that has been around at least my whole life and I'm older than 4chan too.
- red003 3y agoI assume the comment was deleted for pointing out it’s a sterilized version of 4chan’s “goyslop” which refers to meritless, poorly made, post-Obama modern media like what you would see on Netflix, and not AI.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- zug_zug 3y agoEh, the internet is full of garbage SEO-spam already. We have a word for that, which is enshittification, which imo correctly identifies the root perpetrators of the problem: platform owners utilizing monopolies. I don't see why we need a word for AI-generated garbage specifically, not yet at least. Like if I go onto google maps and search "Best restaurants in my area" it's going to 100% recommend fast-food chains that have purchased product placement. I don't feel AI plays a significant role in bad recommendations at this point, and to blaming/stopping AI wouldn't really help.
- simonw 3y agoEnshittification means something entirely different: it's the inevitable decline of online services as they face the pressure to continually monetize. Plenty of examples of enshittification have nothing to do with generative AI. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification mentions Cory's alternative definition of "platform decline".
- rimunroe 3y agoAlso I wouldn't call a particular blog post's content "enshittification" anyway. "Enshittification" is a process, not a particular type of content. We have plenty of terms for the latter, like "SEO spam" or "rage bait". I don't see anything wrong with someone trying to come up with a shorthand term for "unwanted AI-generated content"
- zug_zug 3y agoThey're only different if an individual is manually posting slop. If a company is automatically posting slop, then the root of the problem is enshittification, and AI is just means.
- Lalabadie 3y agoIf we forewent all words that are symptoms but not root problems, we would have very few words.
- 3y ago
- ivanjermakov 3y agoSlop is a word for waste water and messy animal food. Don't quite understand the debates here in the comments. I like how it sounds similar to spam.
- voakbasda 3y agoI imagine the use of this term comes from the name for the leftover foodstuff that gets fed to pigs, usually from a bucket. As a small scale pig farmer, I approve of the use of this term; I care enough about the welfare of my pigs that I would never risk feeding them anything that would be considered slop. Plus, pigs fed with slop usually end up tasting bad, because they are what they eat. A wonderfully apt metaphor that reflects both the voracious appetites of modern AI systems and the resulting quality of the results.
- yrro 3y agoSee also: swill
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- bredren 3y agoA good coin, this one. It needed a simple name, and it falls perfectly into a list of "four letter words."
- rolph 3y agoslop is also unwanted food waste watered down and fed to swine.
- ubertaco 3y agoSounds like AI-generated content to me, especially since it's often fed into spam emails/comments/blog-posts.
- Tiberium 3y agoIt's been used in this meaning on 4chan for at least half a year, maybe more.
- anononaut 3y agoWithout a doubt it originated there.
- hecatia 3y agoThe "original" word, which "slop" came to existence, would have set internet on deeper fire if it got out of /pol/ today in light of events in israel and palestine.
- pseudalopex 3y agohttps://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/goyslop https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/goyslop
- hhjinks 3y ago"AI slop" can be found in archives as far back as 2022.
- kelipso 3y agoLLM slop or AI slop totally works but slop just by itself is so generic, I doubt slop by itself will catch on but who knows.