this post was submitted on 16 May 2026
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In my opinion, AI Slop is content made with AI that is low effort. People feel and know the quality of something, and if it feels like slop, it feels like slop.

AI being used is not a deal breaker for me as long as the product is good. AI isn’t magic and it takes skills and knowledge to use it and to judge what the model outputs.

You may see it differently however, some might believe that the use of any AI tools whatsoever turns any app into slop the moment the first commit with AI code in it is made.

What do you think, what constitutes AI Slop?

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[–] audaxdreik@pawb.social 18 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

AI slop is the output of all generative AI, full stop.

Slop itself is anything produced for the sake of being produced. Something without feeling or soul, just more content for the content machine.

Like, yes it does take some level of skill to "prompt engineer" the AI and get it to show you the thing you want, but it's still not a distinctive style, it's still not your style. If you say, "sloth astronaut" I can imagine that in my head in my own way, there's no value in producing an AI image. As far as I'm concerned, an AI image narrows down all the possibilities of my own imagination into the specific piece of slop from the slop machine. If I wanted to see it, the point would be to see an interpretation in someone's style.

I can't remember where I saw this argument recently, it was something coming out of Capcom saying they'd use AI for background details and people citing specific examples from Pragmata maybe? Things like vending machines and environmental details that could be streamlined with the help of AI. But even these small details are places for environmental artists to shine. Show off their skills, hide small details and world building, and little in jokes. It may not be much but it adds to the overall texture and flavor of the product. It does matter.

AI is slop, is slop, is slop. There's absolutely no reforming it and if I detect even a whiff of it, I'm out.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 0 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

i agree with you, but i'll give you a counterexample.

i generate ai images for me. i use only local models and i never share it publically because the output is not really the point, the process is. here is my process:

i come up with a concept, usually a person or a scene. i then take random images from the internet, cut out the parts i think fit together, and add them as layers in a client called "invoke ai". if needed i color match the parts in krita first. then i describe the scene i've made in a prompt, adding the normal positive and negative keywords to steer generation. i also pull the "blur image" ratio down to 40%.

the model then makes an image with my digital scrapbook as a base, melting together disjunct elements into a scene. invoke then allows me to move all the elements around and regenerate the scene, or select a few specific elements to regenerate, or paint on top of the scene and generate something new from that, or select part of the scene and change the prompt for that area. it's a fun little game, and it feels like collaborating with people who know lighting and perspective better than i do.

most time i've spent doing this is half a day, just iterating and tweaking and filling in details. i'm in no way an artist, i'm playing around. it's basically as resource intensive as playing a video game, and i'm not one to share gameplay footage either.

[–] SarahValentine@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

That sounds like plagiarism with extra steps, and it all starts here:

i then take random images from the internet

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 hours ago

plagiarism implies a benefit to the plunderer, though. It's perfectly legal to take images from the internet for your own use - e.g. a sonic the hedgehog themed birthday party for a kid.

[–] lime@feddit.nu -1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

well yeah, sure. not denying that. but i don't do it for people to see it. i think of it a bit like cutting stuff out of magazines and gluing it together. it's remix culture.

i'm not a creator in any way, i'm a consumer. i just like blending things together.

[–] bright_side_@piefed.world 0 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I would argue that it is some sort of creation

[–] lime@feddit.nu 0 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

i don't really want to class it as such in the current climate.

[–] bright_side_@piefed.world 1 points 5 hours ago

yeah I can see that, there's a lot of connotation