The Trashy Aesthetics of Slop

Vibe Coded

I’ve talked in length about the ethical quandaries surrounding generative AI, from the industrial-scale theft of intellectual property to the ways it harms both the natural as well as digital environments due to its extractive nature. But I also want to talk about the aesthetics of the slop output we have to contend with now on a regular basis, and I don’t just mean the political side of it—I and many others have been sounding the alarm that genAI lines right up with aesthetics of fascism. Rather, I want to explore the relationship between the slop machines and true art forms, and why we just aren’t seeing anything meaningful and lasting being produced using these problematic technologies.

Hosted by Jared White
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Theme music by Ben Elson

Links

• NEW! Human Web Collective: a forum for the AI-Free movement
• A Tale of Two Cyberspaces
• “100% of the music I love listening to was produced without the aid of slop machines”
• 'AI slop': Emily Portman and musicians on the mystery of fraudsters releasing songs in their name
• Embrace Generative Art, Reject Regurgitated Slop (podcast)
• A Photo with Paint FX is Not a Painting, But It Could Be Something Else
• 404 Media Podcast: Shrimp Jesus
• The AI vibe shift is upon us (CNN Business)
• Kat Tenbarge: Sam Altman's Dyson Sphere 😳
• Cat soap operas and babies trapped in space: the ‘AI slop’ taking over YouTube