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Drowning in Slop | A thriving underground economy is clogging the internet with AI garbage — and it’s only going to get worse.
A thriving underground economy is clogging the internet with AI garbage — and it’s only going to get worse.
On Facebook, enigmatic pages post disturbing images of maimed children and alien Jesuses; on Twitter, bots cluster by the thousands, chipperly and supportively tweeting incoherent banalities at one another; on Spotify, networks of eerily similar and wholly imaginary country and electronic artists glut playlists with bizarre and lifeless songs; on Kindle, shoddy books with stilted, error-ridden titles ( The Spellbound Quest: Students Perilous Journey to Correct Their Mistake) are advertised on idle lock screens with blandly uncanny illustrations. What began as riffs on already viral images have evolved into bizarre, sui generis dreamscapes through which inexplicable and unrelated themes and topics emerge: multiheaded, enormously breasted “farmer girls”; stewardesses wading in muddy rivers; amputee beggars carrying signs reading TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY. On Amazon, a quick search found a listing for some (presumably real) underwear with the description “As of My Knowledge Cutoff in Early 2023, Providing Specific Purchasing Options for ‘Women’s Stylish Sexy Casual Independence Day Printed Panties’ Would Be My Capabilities As I Cannot Browse or Access Live Data From the Internet, Including Current Inventory From or Private Sellers.”
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