Every now and then (and with more and more frequency), a word comes along, sprouts its wings, and becomes a natural part of the cultural vernacular. Way back when, I really struggled with the term gaslighting. I could not help but think there must be a better term for the phenomenon that gaslighting is trying to describe than the word ‘gaslighting’.
When I hear the term slop being used for the outputs of artificial intelligence, there is a similar feeling that comes about. The term slop doesn’t quite express the phenomenon as accurately as one might want. Slop simply doesn’t do A.I. any justice. And that it is not a defense of A.I., nor is it me being temporarily offended on A.I.’s behalf—and I have no delusions of grandeur that anyone will stop calling it slop, or quit using the term gaslighting, because of my words, either.
However, the term slop, at least for me, came about rather quickly—it was here and there for a while, but is now almost used unanimously when referring to just about whatever A.I. does in replacement of old-fashioned creativity.
Perhaps it is that the term tries so hard to mimic and mock A.I. output, without giving any acknowledgement to the powerful tech that it is, a kind of not giving the devil his due. As an artist and writer, I am fully against artificial intelligence. I never intend to use A.I. in any capacity, creative or professional.
The active word here is intend. And this word also has something to do with what I mentioned about the devil and his due—still, we must not underestimate the changes that are to come. While I may vow to stay away from artificial intelligence, are there ways in which this tech can be forced upon one who intends to rebel against it? Has this tech already eclipsed our lives and burrowed itself into a place from which there is no turning back?
I believe if we are already talking about it, the truth has been long overdue. It is within that spirit that I (and anyone else), can only avoid artificial intelligence for so long. And this period of minimal possible avoidance, out of sheer tenacity, is slowly fading away into the past, as the future brings along with it all the tools to diminish the human capacity, intellectual and creative.
To listen to a variety of podcast episodes that feature a handful of artificial intelligence experts (which I have done plenty, lately) is to bear witness to the darkest of possible hypothetical scenarios regarding human development of A.I. Even the scenarios that do not involve total eventual extinction of the human race have quite dramatic outcomes in the very near future, and many are speculating that as close as 2027, we may see and feel fundamental sweeping changes in our relationship to A.I. and human interconnectivity, forcing many challenges for us humans—from labor and wages, to existential crises and collapse.
You will also bear witness to a set of cooler talking heads; ones that do not swivel or sway, do not speak in hyperbole or with dramatic flair or showmanship—no, they/ experts speak plainly about this grim future. They speak of the future like a doctor would an elderly patient, simply unable to be saved. They are neither surprised nor alarmed by this discovery. Not only that, but they seem to know what the future is bringing—less connection, less love, less critical thinking, fewer employees.
Where I once thought artificial intelligence was avoidable, a nuisance, a fad—I now see it as the revolution that it is. One can argue about the outcomes, the pros and cons, etc. But what is inarguable is the massive change to our society that it will bring about.
It is happening before our eyes, and one can only hope that the year 2027 joins a long list of doomsday dates that have come to pass with no tragedy, no calamity, no end of times scenario for the human population. Let the experts be as wrong about 2027 as they were with Y2K.
Still, the term slop is so unfulfilling. Because slop is neither dangerous nor threatening. Slop is neither fast nor daunting. Slop feels like something from which we can all escape, and artificial intelligence does not feel like that.
The creatives who fear artificial intelligence have already likely waited too long. The machines are poised, are now well-oiled, well-defined, and tightened. We can no longer mock what is coming towards us, and we should soon recognize not just the threat of the technology, but for the ways in which that the technology can be used.
Very soon, if predictions are vaguely accurate, a long list of occupations and activities that have defined the human spirit to build and progress will join the creative arts in line—a line that is threatened by an existential force, and is propelled by those who have shown themselves quite capable of considering most of us numbers, data, stats on a graph.
We can surely continue to call it slop if we choose, but it is not slop. Not really. It is an enemy by another name. We mock artificial intelligence, and those who use it, at our peril--because some threats are too great to simply mock.
JSV
2025
Judson Stacy Vereen
American artist and the author of American Pleasure, 62 Poems from Judson Vereen, and Like A Bird Knows To Sing. He is also the author of the Dispatches From Bohemian Splendor newsletter.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
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Thanks for writing this, it clarifies a lot; your consistent insight into the nuances of new terminology, whether it's 'gaslighting' or now 'slop,' is so apprciated and always gives me much to ponder.