From shrimp Jesus to erotic tractors: how viral AI slop took over the internet

The Guardian 

Clockwise from top left: Shrimp Jesus, Nayib Bukele, Justin Bieber and Super Cat League. Clockwise from top left: Shrimp Jesus, Nayib Bukele, Justin Bieber and Super Cat League. In the algorithm-driven economy of 2025, one man's shrimp Jesus is another man's side hustle. AI slop - the low-quality, surreal content flooding social media platforms, designed to farm views - is a phenomenon, some would say the phenomenon of the 2024 and 2025 internet. Merriam-Webster's word of the year this year is "slop", referring exclusively to the internet variety.