The Slop Has Only Just Begun

Please Sir, can I have some more [slop]?

Slop has infected and overwhelmed every facet of our culture.

Social media has become slop. Google has become slop. Online media has been drowned out by slop. Political campaigning around the world is pure slop. Writing platforms are swamped with slop. The majority of movies, TV shows and video games are nothing but paint-by-numbers slop. Most modern music is overly manufactured slop. Marketing and advertising have become slop.

While I’d argue that the standards in culture have been declining for years — at least since the dawn of the algorithms and the prioritization of engagement metrics over user experience — it feels like we’re reaching a critical mass.

Creatives of all forms are now being deprioritized like never before, while algorithms pollute every platform with soulless AI sludge. All the usual suspects are to blame here: greedy boardroom execs, venture capitalists, and the continued shift from consumer value to shareholder value.

Generative AI allows almost anyone to generate almost anything. Some argue this is a noble concept — let’s democratize creativity! — but the output lacks the very fundamentals that make art, writing, music and all the other crafts worth consuming.

Without the human touch, the nuances of tastes and opinions, the variation in style and techniques, the flaws…