Slop

In my first column of this year, in early January, I focused on artificial intelligence. I noted that this year would likely prove an inflection point in the technology, where it could go either way, good or bad, depending on how we leverage its benefits while recognizing and mitigating the harm it can do.

Back then, I wrote, “we have the potential for an out-of-control technology that makes today’s social media cesspool seem like a kindergartener’s coloring book.”

Sure enough, over the past several weeks, the term “AI Slop” is popping up all over the mainstream media with greater frequency. It’s a term that’s been around for a couple years but we appear to be achieving “peak slop.” Some recent headlines that got my attention: “AI Slop Has Infected Our Streaming Services;” “Sick of AI Slop? So Are Tech Giants;” “Hitting Back at AI Slop;” and my favorite, “Slop Factory Bans Russians for Using Slop Factory to Create Slop.”

A couple weeks ago, The New York Times focused on AI slop and how the very tech companies who created much of it are now racing to purge their sites of it, what the Times called a “generative waste detox.”

“The worst of artificial intelligence slop has cluttered Google searches with recipes for glue-topped pizza, Amazon listings with sham biographies and Facebook feeds with images of Shrimp Jesus,” the paper said. “The digital sewage heap has sprawled across tech platforms, cheapening meaningful content and polluting the information ecosystem, as chatbots and video generators continue to advance.”

It goes on to outline the steps that Google, its YouTube division, Spotify, LinkedIn, Meta, Pinterest and TikTok are implementing or testing to weed out, remove and block all this brain-eating drivel, but it all sort of feels like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.

Or perhaps a better analogy is that the foxes are guarding the henhouse. Hard to see how our tech overlords will ever really do the right thing when a fast buck from clickbait is the payout.

Thankfully, the backlash to AI, both the slop and, more importantly, the proliferation of AI data centers across the country, is finally getting the attention of our elected officials, who are racing to reflect the collective outrage of their constituents over AI. Governors Abbott of Texas and Shapiro of Pennsylvania, two early proponents of data center construction, have changed their tune and are now “halting approvals or tightening oversight” of AI data centers due to voter anger, according to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal.

Political pundits are predicting that AI and data centers will play a major role in the upcoming midterm election campaigns. We’ve seen it in the primary ads this summer and will likely see a lot more this fall.

For his part, President Trump remains firmly on the AI data center bandwagon, despite the backlash in both parties. In a podcast interview in late August, he said it would be “a mistake” for communities and their leaders to reject AI data centers because of the jobs and tax benefits that come with them. I think many voters disagree.

If I had to guess, the president wants to keep the AI gravy train rolling because of its impact on a stock market that might otherwise have some cracks starting to appear thanks to tariffs, war and inflation. Financial analysts note that AI-related stocks have generated roughly half of the growth in the S&P 500 this year and have also contributed to our economic growth. Both good things, but at what cost?

One member of the tech old guard, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, issued a blaring warning about AI last week in the form of a more than 5,000-word essay on his website. Gates believes AI can still be harnessed for the greater good, but we’re squandering that opportunity due to lack of oversight and planning, creating the potential for far more and greater risks than rewards.

He breaks down those risks into three big categories: rapid loss of jobs; stunted development and relationships among children; and the possibility of AI empowering people to do more harm in the world. On that front, he says: “Even criminals with very limited skills will be able to target victims at every scale: individuals, companies and governments,” making it easier for the bad guys to unleash bioweapons, bombs and computer viruses.

Local leaders appear to be listening to their constituents and warnings from tech titans like Gates, and with them, are seeing the bigger picture, one that transcends money and wealth.

Sadly, our elected officials haven’t done too well on the pass/fail IQ test we give them as a condition of our vote these past few years, across many fronts. I hope we get this right and that we elect officials this November who have our best interests in mind, not Wall Street’s or Silicon Valley’s.