We’re Knee Deep In The Slop Era

Creatives of all forms are now being deprioritized while algorithms pollute every platform with soulless AI sludge

Image: Badly edited by author

When we reflect on 2024, we’ll remember it as many things, but most of all — we’ll remember it as the year of slop.

Slop has infected and overwhelmed every facet of our culture. Social media has become slop. Google has become slop. Journalism has been drowned out by slop. Political campaigning around the world is filled with slop. Writing platforms have been 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 one could argue the standards in culture have been lowering for years — at least since the dawn of the algorithms and the move to valuing engagement metrics above all else — this year saw the bottom truly blown out, exacerbated by, you guessed it, generative AI.

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.