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Macquarie Dictionary Names 'AI Slop' 2025 Word of the Year

The choice underscores growing concern over unsolicited, error-prone generative-AI content undermining information quality.

Overview

  • Macquarie said the term won both the committee selection and the People’s Choice for the second consecutive year of alignment.
  • The dictionary defines “AI slop” as low-quality content produced by generative AI that often contains errors and was not requested by the user.
  • The selection committee said people now need to become “prompt engineers” to wade through such output.
  • Technology expert Adam Nemeroff warned this content is entering media diets and facilitating misinformation, citing AI images circulated during Hurricane Helene, and said it can displace human creators.
  • Cambridge Dictionary recently chose “parasocial” as its 2025 word, highlighting one-sided relationships with celebrities, influencers and AI chatbots, while Macquarie’s shortlist included “clanker,” “medical misogyny” and “attention economy.”