Merriam-Webster’s word of the year delivers a dismissive verdict on junk AI content

Merriam-Webster has named "slop" as its 2025 Word of the Year, highlighting the prevalence of low-quality AI-generated content online. The term reflects the flood of subpar digital content produced by artificial intelligence across social media and the web. This selection underscores the growing awareness among users of encountering fake or shoddy content online. Other dictionaries have also been tracking AI's impact on language, with Cambridge previously selecting "hallucinate" as its word of the year. The trend of selecting words that reflect online culture continues, with Oxford University Press choosing "rage bait" and Cambridge Dictionary selecting "parasocial."