Author: Jiaru Tang, PhD student, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology

TikTok, Facebook and other social media platforms are being flooded with uncanny and bizarre content generated with artificial intelligence (AI), from fake videos of the US government capturing vampires to images of shrimp Jesus. Given its outlandish nature and tenuous relationship with reality, you might think this so-called “AI slop” would quickly disappear. However, it shows no sign of abating. In fact, our research suggests this kind of low-quality AI-generated content is becoming a lucrative venture for the people who make it, the platforms that host it, and even a growing industry of middlemen teaching others how to get in…