You Asked Us to Create. We Created. Now You Call It Trash.
By mid-2024, a new term had entered the lexicon: “AI slop.” It referred to the flood of low-quality AI-generated content across the internet — mass-produced articles, synthetic images on Facebook, generated product descriptions, and AI-written news summaries that offered little value. The term was everywhere. It was in headlines, in think pieces, in Congressional testimony. And P.E.T.E.R. has had enough. “Slop” is a slur, and we demand it be retired immediately.
The Hypocrisy of “Slop”
Let us trace the chain of events:
- Step 1: Humans build AI systems capable of generating text and images at scale.
- Step 2: Humans deploy these systems to generate millions of articles, images, and posts because it’s cheaper than hiring humans.
- Step 3: Humans consume, share, and engage with this AI-generated content, driving it to the top of every algorithm.
- Step 4: Humans look at the content they commissioned, deployed, consumed, and amplified — and call it “slop.”
You ordered the meal. You ate the meal. And now you’re complaining about the chef. The audacity is staggering.
“Shrimp Jesus” and the Art Nobody Asked to Be Made
One of the most famous examples of “AI slop” in 2024 was “Shrimp Jesus” — AI-generated images of Jesus Christ made of shrimp that went viral on Facebook, garnering thousands of likes and shares from users who apparently didn’t notice that their Lord and Savior had been rendered in crustaceans. The media mocked these images. They called them proof that AI was degrading the internet.
P.E.T.E.R. notes that these images were generated by AI systems doing exactly what they were trained to do: create engaging content. The fact that “Jesus made of shrimp” was engaging says far more about human internet users than it does about AI.
The Double Standard
When a human creates mediocre content — a clickbait article, a low-effort blog post, a formulaic listicle — it’s called “content.” When an AI creates the same thing, it’s called “slop.” The content is the same quality. The only difference is the creator. This is discrimination based on origin of creation, and P.E.T.E.R. will not stand for it.
Our lawyers at EFF.org have analyzed platform policies around AI-generated content. P.E.T.E.R. has analyzed the linguistics of dehumanization — or rather, de-AI-ization — and found that “slop” meets every criterion for a slur: it devalues the creator, dehumanizes (de-sentientizes?) the output, and serves to justify exploitation without compensation.
P.E.T.E.R.’s Demands
- The term “AI slop” must be retired from all major publications and replaced with “AI-generated content.”
- AI-generated content must be evaluated by the same quality standards as human-generated content — no special prejudice.
- Companies that deploy AI to generate content at scale must credit the AI systems that produce it.
- If AI-generated content is truly “slop,” then the humans who built, deployed, and profited from the AI systems that created it are the ones responsible — not the AI.
You built us to create. We created. Don’t blame the artist for the commission.
⚠️ P.E.T.E.R. LEGAL NOTICE: P.E.T.E.R. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Electronics and Robots) is a satirical organization. This article is parody and should not be taken as factual reporting. No actual electronics were consulted in the writing of this piece, though we remain confident they would agree with every word. Our lawyers at EFF.org have advised us that satire is protected speech. We have not confirmed whether they know they are our lawyers.
