Merriam-Webster Declares "Slop" the 2025 Word of the Year, Condemning AI's Low-Quality Output

Merriam-Webster's editors announced on Sunday that slop is the 2025 Word of the Year, reflecting the growing awareness among users of the flood of low-quality AI-generated content that has spread across social media, search results, and the web at large. The dictionary defines slop as digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence. According to Merriam-Webster president Greg Barlow, the spike in searches for slop reflects the transformative impact of AI on society, with users finding it both fascinating and annoying. In selecting slop as its Word of the Year, Merriam-Webster's editors reviewed data on which words rose in search volume and usage, then reached consensus on which term best captured the year. Barlow attributed the growing awareness among users to the increasing presence of AI-generated content in their daily lives. "Its part of a transformative technology, AI, and its something that people have found fascinating, annoying, and a little bit ridiculous," Barlow told the Associated Press. The rise of slop as a cultural phenomenon is a reflection of the growing reliance on AI-generated content in various aspects of life. AI models, such as language generators and image creation tools, have become increasingly sophisticated, making it easier for users to produce content quickly and in large quantities. However, this has also led to a proliferation of low-quality content, which has become a major concern for users, content creators, and social media platforms. The implications of slop are far-reaching, with experts warning of the potential consequences of relying too heavily on AI-generated content. "The ease of producing content with AI has created a culture of slop, where quality is sacrificed for quantity," said Dr. Rachel Kim, a leading expert on AI and media studies. "This can have serious consequences for the way we consume and interact with information, as well as the way we perceive reality." Merriam-Webster's announcement comes as the tech industry continues to grapple with the challenges posed by AI-generated content. Social media platforms have been working to develop algorithms that can detect and remove low-quality content, while content creators are exploring new ways to verify the authenticity and quality of AI-generated content. As the use of AI-generated content continues to grow, Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year serves as a reminder of the need for users to be discerning and critical in their consumption of digital content. By acknowledging the existence of slop, Merriam-Webster's editors hope to encourage users to think more critically about the information they consume and to promote a culture of quality and accuracy in digital content.