Surrealism or Spam? How "AI Slop" is Overwhelming the Internet
We've gone from viral dances, and dumb pranks to a freak show of "AI slop." It's a growing wasteland of mind-bending garbage filling social media. What families need to know now…
Have you, or your kids, been scrolling through social media lately only to come across horrifying, can’t-look-away, AI-generated video or image content that seems to be overtaking our accounts?
Some of it is outright absurd, some of it is funny, but much of this content is actually created to “break the web” by messing with algorithms developed on the back of norms that don’t exist anymore.
There are entire accounts now dedicated to following this trend. And by “trend,” I mean a wildly shifting landscape of content that is impossible to avoid.
Now, to be fair, society has been introduced to ground-breaking new AI tools that our kids especially want to explore, and it would be disingenuous to pretend the output isn’t wildly compelling to look at. But we do need to keep up and understand what “slop” is, why it can be problematic, and how to both talk to kids about it, and make sure what they are looking at is age-appropriate.
From Niche to Mainstream
Just this single weird spider-turned-giraffe video (top left) has generated (at the time of my writing this) 3.5 million likes and more than 360 million views.
It’s clear we’ve now crossed a Rubicon where AI-generated, peculiar, unnerving, click-worthy content will soon drown out human-generated social media videos and imagery. And that is problematic for many reasons.
According to 404 Media, much of this onslaught of imagery is intended to disrupt the social media algorithms that have previously dictated what we see, and ultimately, who gets paid for content.
“The best way to think of the slop and spam that generative AI enables is as a brute force attack on the algorithms that control the internet and which govern how a large segment of the public interprets the nature of reality. It is not just that people making AI slop are spamming the internet, it’s that the intended “audience” of AI slop is social media and search algorithms, not human beings.” -404 Media
Ingredients of Slop Soup
Most broadly, visual AI slop refers to low-quality, distorted, or inappropriate images generated by artificial intelligence systems. On the one side, slop refers to content from AI models that haven't been properly trained, regulated, or filtered. So, the term "slop" conveys the messy, unrefined nature of these outputs.
This includes things like distorted human figures with anatomical irregularities (extra fingers, misshapen limbs), bizarre or unsettling hybrid creatures, and unrealistic or misleading depictions of real-world concepts.
But often these days it’s not simply a lazy mistake underpinning this work, the content is intentionally grotesque.
Art Amongst the Garbage?
Of course, there is something to be said for understanding and embracing what is new. The creative implications for AI are vast and exciting. And not everyone is creating content with disruptive intentions.
There are also those arguing that what we are seeing, in part, is art. The Washington Post explored the topic last year, and the magical works of digital creators such as polly_in_wonderland bear this out. But parsing true creativity from blatant garbage can be tough.
Why Slop is Problematic
Much of the most viral AI visual content is poor quality, intended to shock, and as mentioned, also an attempt to destabilize algorithms.
Social media filters struggle with these types of bizarre, inappropriate, or frightening images because filters are ill-equipped to recognize the content as offensive.
There is also something called the "uncanny valley effect" where human faces contain subtle distortions that make them particularly unsettling or even frightening for the small way they diverge from reality.
For parents, the concern isn't just about visual quality, but also about content appropriateness. Even well-formed AI images might contain subtle messaging or concepts that aren't age-appropriate. And these can be harder to detect than obvious visual distortions.
Bigger picture, we are being faced with three core issues: first, the erosion of trust, particularly with imagery that is weird and hard to detect as AI created; second, the inability of digital safeguards to catch the most disturbing content; and last, the way in which AI is trained on the content available on the web (creating a mind-blowing loop of bad content becoming the imagery that AI is trained on).
“…if we lose the ability to tell what’s real and what’s fake, we’ve got a serious problem. We’re already seeing the effects of online mis- and disinformation playing out in real time. AI slop doesn’t just mislead – it erodes trust in information itself. And once that trust is gone, how does it change the way we interact with the internet?” -“AI slop is taking over the internet and I've had enough of it," TechRadar
What to Do?
Knowledge is power, and just the exercise of attempting to understand how to identify and talk to kids about slop, can go far toward navigating this new future together.
How to Identify Visual AI Slop
Parents should look for these telltale signs when reviewing the content their children are viewing:
Unnatural anatomical features » Look for humans with incorrect proportions, extra fingers, distorted faces, or oddly positioned limbs.
Inconsistent backgrounds » Try to identify backgrounds that don't make logical sense or contain elements that blend into each other unnaturally.
Strange text elements » AI often struggles with text, producing scrambled letters or words that appear to be gibberish. This can be a tell-tale sign.
Uncanny feeling » Trust your instincts. If an image feels "off" or unsettling in ways that are hard to articulate, it’s likely to be AI-generated slop.
Watermarks or attribution » Many legitimate AI platforms add subtle watermarks to AI-generated content. The absence of attribution for impressive imagery could be a red flag.
Tips for Protecting Kids from Disturbing AI Slop
It’s never been more important to talk openly with kids about what is happening. Because everything is new, families can learn together, and that takes communication.
Open dialogue » Have regular conversations with your children about what they're seeing online. Create an environment where they feel comfortable sharing strange or unsettling content they encounter.
Media literacy education » Teach kids to critically evaluate the images they see. Help them understand that not everything online is real or accurate (even show them where you’ve been duped).
Supervised exploration » For younger children especially, maintain supervision when they're using apps or platforms that might contain AI-generated content.
Use age-appropriate platforms » Utilize platforms designed specifically for children that have stronger content moderation.
Set clear boundaries » Establish rules about which apps and websites are acceptable and which require parental guidance.
Install parental controls » Use content filtering software designed to screen for inappropriate content, including potentially AI-generated material.
For Parents of Children Creating AI Imagery
Finally, what if children are creating slop themselves? They should explore and making mistakes or poorly generated AI content is a normal part of discovery. A few thoughts on how to approach:
Show genuine interest » Rather than immediately discouraging their experimentation, show interest in their creative process and use it as a teaching opportunity.
Guide toward improvement » Help them recognize the problematic aspects of the images they create, and show them how to give better prompts or use the technology more responsibly.
Explore better tools together » There are increasingly more child-friendly AI creative tools available. Research and provide access to age-appropriate alternatives with better safeguards.
Teach digital citizenship » Use this as an opportunity to discuss responsible digital creation, including respecting others' privacy and dignity in their creations.
Emphasize human creativity » Encourage them to use AI as just one tool in their creative arsenal rather than relying on it exclusively. Balance AI usage with traditional creative activities.
Discuss ethical implications » For older children, have age-appropriate conversations about the ethical considerations of AI-generated content, including issues of consent, representation, and misinformation.
Set healthy time limits » Establish reasonable boundaries around how much time they spend generating AI content to ensure a healthy balance of activities.
A Time Like No Other
Remember that children's curiosity about new technology is natural. By approaching the situation with understanding rather than alarm, parents, and caregivers can guide their children toward becoming responsible digital citizens who can thoughtfully engage with emerging technologies.
Also remember that few times in history have adults been quite as floored, confused, and in need of a tutorial, as kids. It makes the here and now an incredible opportunity to wade through the slop together.