«Цифровой мусор: slop стал символом ИИ-эры в 2025 году» Translation: Digital Waste: Slop Becomes the Symbol of the AI Era in 2025

One of the prominent American dictionaries, Merriam-Webster, has designated «slop» as its «word of the year.» This term refers to «low-quality digital content that is typically produced en masse by artificial intelligence.»

«The word ‘slop’ evokes the wet sound of substances like slime or dirt—things one would rather not touch. It seeps into everything,» the company stated.

According to them, in the age of artificial intelligence, this term aims to convey «a tone that elicits more mockery than fear» regarding the technology.

«It’s a vivid word. It is part of a transformative technology—AI—and what people find intriguing, annoying, and somewhat humorous,» commented Greg Barlow, President of Merriam-Webster.

Throughout 2025, «slop» was ubiquitous as journalists and experts sought to describe how platforms like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Gemini Veo are reshaping the internet.

Thanks to a new generation of media content generators, there are now books, podcasts, songs, television ads, and films created using AI. According to a study, nearly 75% of new web content is related to AI in some form.

The emergence of these tools has even led to the development of the so-called «slop economy,» where an excess of such content can be monetized through advertising.

Critics are concerned about the potential polarization of the digital landscape, where some individuals can afford higher-quality paid content, while others cannot, leaving the latter with a «digital diet of slop that is lacking in informational value.»

Merriam-Webster is a publishing company and dictionary of the English language in the U.S., regarded as one of the most authoritative sources for definitions, pronunciations, word histories, and proper usage.

It is not the only entity to bestow an AI-related term with such an honor. Macquarie Dictionary chose «AI slop,» Oxford Dictionary selected «ragebait,» which implies manipulative tactics intended to boost online user engagement, while Collins Dictionary opted for «vibe coding,» a programming style that involves coding rapidly and intuitively, often in dialogue with AI.

As a reminder, in 2019, the Chinese magazine «Yao Wen Jiao Ji» released a traditional list of the most popular words and phrases, which included the term «blockchain» among others.