Generative AI makes creating reams of text, images, videos, and other types of material a breeze. Because it takes just a few seconds between entering a prompt for your model of choice to spit out the result, these models have become a quick, easy way to produce content on a massive scale. And 2024 was the year we started calling this (generally poor quality) media what it is--AI slop. This low-stakes way of creating AI slop means it can now be found in pretty much every corner of the internet: from the newsletters in your inbox and books sold on Amazon, to ads and articles across the web and shonky pictures on your social media feeds. The more emotionally evocative these pictures are (wounded veterans, crying children, a signal of support in the Israel-Palestine conflict) the more likely they are to be shared, resulting in higher engagement and ad revenue for their savvy creators. AI slop isn't just annoying--its rise poses a genuine problem for the future of the very models that helped to produce it.

Artificial intelligence experts Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin analyze the technology on'One Nation.' A 14-year-old committed suicide after following the advice of an AI chatbot. Another family is suing the same one -- Character AI -- after it told an autistic 14-year-old to kill his parents. It also exposed an 11-year-old to sexual content. These stories are heavy reminders that young people are especially vulnerable on the internet, but AI isn't the only thing targeting them.

A great thing about catching a cold in December, as a critic, is that it's a perfect time to play NyQuil-induced catch-up with all the screeners I'd yet to watch. Cynthia Erivo is as good as everyone says in Wicked. Hundreds of Beavers is funny and incredibly well calculated, astute in its ability to shape-shift just enough to never get tedious. The Wild Robot is emotionally satisfying--but it made me lament a world in which even a robot has to have her programming overridden by the American social imperative to be a "mother." The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is a worthy reminder of what the old internet, the internet of my own upbringing, used to feel like: communal, social, mysterious.

The Constitution shouldn't be rewritten for every new communications technology. The Supreme Court reaffirmed this long-standing principle during its most recent term in applying the 1st Amendment to social media. The late Justice Antonin Scalia articulated it persuasively in 2011, noting that "whatever the challenges of applying the Constitution to ever-advancing technology, the basic principles of freedom of speech and the press … do not vary." These principles should be front of mind for congressional Republicans and David Sacks, Trump's recently chosen artificial intelligence czar, as they make policy on that emerging technology. The 1st Amendment standards that apply to older communications technologies must also apply to artificial intelligence, particularly as it stands to play an increasingly significant role in human expression and learning.

On one screen, an urban professional in Oslo taps through ultra-secure banking apps, relies on an AI-powered personal assistant, and streams media seamlessly over high-speed 5G using their iPhone. On the other screen, a farmer in Malawi scrolls through a modest Android phone -- likely costing less than a week's wages -- just to read the news, check tomorrow's weather, and send WhatsApp messages over a patchy mobile connection. These very different experiences highlight the divide between the Global North and the Global South. These terms refer not only to geographic locations but also to the world's wealthiest and most industrialized regions -- such as Europe, North America, and parts of East Asia -- and economically developing nations across much of Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and Oceania. Technology symbolizes innovation, convenience, and seamless connectivity in the Global North.

The doomers have it wrong. AI is not going to end the world--but it is going to end the web as we've known it. AI is already upending the economic covenant of the internet that's existed since the advent of search: A few companies (mostly Google) bring demand, and creators bring supply (and get some ad revenue or recognition from it). AI tools are already generating and summarizing content, obviating the need for users to click through to the sites of content providers, and thereby upsetting the balance. Meanwhile, an ocean of AI-powered deepfakes and bots will make us question what's real and will degrade people's trust in the online world.

Care and Feeding is Slate's parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? A few months ago, I needed to have an emergency C-section a month before my due date. Thankfully I came through it safely, and have a wonderful little son. There is just one problem.

Internet browsing is a "lonely experience," says Microsoft. Copilot Vision is your AI companion that can visually process what you're browsing and help you out along the way. On Thursday, Microsoft announced a preview version of Copilot Vision for Copilot Pro subscribers. Microsoft introduced Vision in October as a solution to the problem that users have to explain what they're seeing to Copilot. Vision sits on the bottom of your Microsoft Edge browser and, when enabled, "it sees the page you're on, it reads along with you, and you can talk through the problem you're facing together."

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Last weekend the name was all over the internet – just not on ChatGPT. David Mayer became famous for a moment on social media because the popular chatbot appeared to want nothing to do with him. Legions of chatbot wranglers spent days trying – and failing – to make ChatGPT write the words "David Mayer". But the chatbot refused to comply, with replies alternating between "something seems to have gone wrong" to "I'm unable to produce a response" or just stopping at "David". This produced a blizzard of online speculation about Mayer's identity.