If you’re one of the people who thought AI was going to come along and take everyone’s jobs, you might want to think again. There’s already a sense that AI fatigue is beginning to set in, with the internet now inundated with generated content that’s being referred to as ‘AI slop.’
There was a lot of talk about how AI would soon be used to generate personalized entertainment geared towards different users. However, this may not come to fruition, as people deliberately seek out content that clearly has a human touch.
The Internet Is Already Flooded with ‘AI Slop’
When AI first started to generate images and videos, it was fresh and exciting. Creators saw it as a way to produce content quickly and cheaply. However, it didn’t take long before the internet was awash with this type of content, and now the novelty appears to be wearing off. It’s not just online, either. It seems that almost everywhere you look in day-to-day life now you can see something that was made using AI. From restaurant menus to bulletin boards, it’s inescapable.
The term ‘AI slop’ has recently emerged to describe this low-effort material. It’s a negative-sounding phrase, and this reflects the apparent fatigue that’s setting in with it. The fact that there appears to be a growing negative reaction towards AI content suggests that it could just be a flash in the pan. The craze may soon pass, and things will soon shift again back to an internet where sites actively try to suppress AI-generated material. There are already signs that this is happening, with Google reportedly adjusting its algorithm to cut down on ‘AI slop’ networks.
Clear Value in Human-Created Entertainment
One of the greatest arguments for the fact that we could be heading towards a post-AI-generated world is the fact that people still love to watch humans play chess. AI chess systems have been able to beat grandmasters for decades, but nobody seems that bothered about watching them face off against one another.
Likewise, in entertainment, there’s something appealing about knowing a real person was behind it. After all, the human can produce original thought, whereas the AI’s output is simply an amalgamation of all the content it’s been trained on.
The personalization of entertainment with AI may not come to fruition, as people generally like to play and watch the same things. Being able to talk about the latest episode of House of the Dragon or watch it with friends is part of what makes these shows enjoyable. There’s a reason why online casino games for real money are grouped in sections, with players presented with featured titles such as Breaking Bad Roulette and Penny Roulette first. Some people like to know that games are popular with others before they play them.
AI Can Still Have Its Place
Even though there’s likely to be a shift away from fully generated AI content in the future, that doesn’t mean that the technology can’t have its place. There’s no denying its usefulness, and the fact that it is continuing to advance at a rapid pace is astounding.
Many argue the best solution would be for AI to exist alongside humans as another tool at their disposal. Some aspects of creation can be outsourced to the technology, while others will require full human control. The final product should always have the human touch, however.
It may be that AI will get so good in the years ahead that it starts to produce entertainment that many people want to watch. However, it is also possible that the AI fatigue that’s already setting in will lead to some sort of ‘post-AI slop’ entertainment world in which the technology is only used to assist human creators.