One signal

AI-generated “slop” is changing the daily reality of social media professionals, according to internet commentators Rachel Karten and Taylor Lorenz in a Bloomberg conversation published on 24 September.

Why it matters

The discussion covers why some people privately enjoy genres of AI-made content while publicly deploring them, and why the online conversation around synthetic media is shifting quickly. It also examines whether people may move from scrolling feeds to interacting with chatbots instead. That matters beyond the usual culture-war fog. Social media managers and creators are now working in feeds where authentic posts, automated material and audience reactions are increasingly difficult to separate. The job is becoming part publishing, part detection and part trying not to stare directly into the algorithmic soup. Karten and Lorenz’s remarks are commentary rather than a measured study, but they offer a useful snapshot of the pressure on people whose work depends on attention, trust and knowing what an audience actually wants.

Discuss: Should social platforms label AI-made content aggressively, even if that makes feeds less visually tidy, or should audiences learn to judge the material for themselves?

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