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Slop Terrifies Me

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Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#61

Post by direwolf20 »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #27

Our paper on removing AI slop got accepted to ICLR 2026, and it's under consideration for an IgNobel prize: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.15061 Our definition of slop (repetitive characteristic language from LLMs) is the original one as articulated by the LLM creative writing community circa 2022-2023. Folks trying to redefine it today to mean "lazy LLM outputs I don't like" should have chosen a different word.

Slop is food scraps fed to pigs. Folks trying to redefine it in 2022–2023 as "repetitive characteristic language from LLMs" should have chosen a different word.

A computer is a person employed to do arithmetic.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#62

Post by Der_Einzige »

direwolf20 wrote: post #61
Der_Einzige wrote: post #27

Our paper on removing AI slop got accepted to ICLR 2026, and it's under consideration for an IgNobel prize: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.15061 Our definition of slop (repetitive characteristic language from LLMs) is the original one as articulated by the LLM creative writing community circa 2022-2023. Folks trying to redefine it today to mean "lazy LLM outputs I don't like" should have chosen a different word.

Slop is food scraps fed to pigs. Folks trying to redefine it in 2022–2023 as "repetitive characteristic language from LLMs" should have chosen a different word. A computer is a person employed to do arithmetic.

Sloppy joes is either a food item or a slur against the previous democratic president. Checkmate.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#63

Post by relaxing »

KurSix wrote: post #36
beardyw wrote: post #10

I think this is far too nuanced. I am terrified by what the civilization we have known will become. People living in less advanced economies will do OK, but the rest of us not so much. We stand on the brink of a world where some wealthy people will get more wealthy, but very many will struggle without work or prospects. A society where a large percent have no income is unsustainable in the short term, and ultimately…

People in power won't act out of foresight or ethics. They'll act when the cost of not acting exceeds the cost of doing something messy and imperfect

Even that’s giving them too much credit. They’ll burn it all down preserve their fragile egos.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#64

Post by mattgreenrocks »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #55
danaris wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the singularity is happening [Citation needed] No LLM is yet being used effectively to improve LLM output in exponential ways. Personally, I'm skeptical that such a thing is possible. LLMs aren't AGI, and aren't a path to AGI. The Singularity is the Rapture for techbros.

If you look at the rapid acceleration of progress and conclude this way, well, de nile ain't just a river in egypt. Also yes LLMs are indeed AGI: https://www.noemamag.com/artificial-general-intelligence-is-... This was Peter Norvig's take. AGI is a low bar because most humans are really stupid.

If you think AGI is at hand why are you trying to sway a bunch of internet randos who don’t get it? :) Use those god-like powers to make the life you want while it’s still under the radar.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#65

Post by beardyw »

smokel wrote: post #49
jjgreen wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Welcome to capitalism!

Besides being a bit of a shallow comment, what exactly do you imply here? That capitalism logically implies that the rich become richer? I don't think this is necessarily the case, it just needs a stronger government than what the US currently has in place. (e.g. progressive taxation and strong antitrust policy seem to work fairly well in Europe).

Isn't that what Americans call socialism?

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#66

Post by relaxing »

hereme888 wrote: post #13

"terrified".... overused word. As a man I literally can't relate. I get terrified when I see a shark next to me in the ocean. I get impatient when code is hard to debug.

Step 1: Start looking beyond your code, as the stuff beyond your code is looking at you.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#67

Post by secretsatan »

I was watching a youtube video the other day where the guy was complaining his website was dropping off the google search results. Long story short, he reworded it according to advice from Gemini, the more he did it, the better it performed, but he was reflecting on how the website no longer represented him.

Soon, we'll all just be meatpuppets, guided by AI to suit AI.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#68

Post by zbentley »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #27

Our paper on removing AI slop got accepted to ICLR 2026, and it's under consideration for an IgNobel prize: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.15061 Our definition of slop (repetitive characteristic language from LLMs) is the original one as articulated by the LLM creative writing community circa 2022-2023. Folks trying to redefine it today to mean "lazy LLM outputs I don't like" should have chosen a different word.

I was disappointed that your paper devoted less than a sentence in the introduction to qualifying "slop" before spending many pages quantifying it.

The definitions you're operating under are mentioned thus:

> characteristic repetitive phraseology, termed “slop,” which degrades output quality and makes AI-generated text immediately recognizable. (abstract)

> ... some patterns occur over 1000× more frequently in LLM text than in human writing, leading to the perception of repetition and over-use – i.e. "slop". (introduction)

And that's ... it, I think. No further effort is visible towards a definition of the term, nor do the background citations propose one that I could see (I'll admit to skimming them, though I did read most of your paper--if I missed something, let me know).

That might be suitable as an operating definition of "slop" to explain the techniques in your paper, but neither your paper nor any of your citations defend it as the common definition of an established term. Your paper's not making an incorrect claim per se, rather, it's taking your definition of "slop" for granted without evidence.

That doesn't bode well for the rigor of the rest of the paper.

Like, look: I get that this is an extremely fraught and important/popular area of research, and that your approach has "antislop" in the name. That's all great; I hope your approach is beneficial--truly. But you aren't claiming a definition of slop in your paper; you're just assuming one. Then you're coming here and asserting a definition citing "the LLM creative writing community circa 2022-2023" and asserting redefinition-after-the-fact, both of which are extraordinary claims that require evidence.

Again, not only do I think that mis-definition is untrue, I also think that you're not actually defining "slop" (the irony of my emphasizing that in a not-just-x-but-y sentence is not lost on me).

I don't know which of the authors you are, but Ravid, at least, should know better: this is not how you establish terminology in academic writing, nor how you defend it.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#69

Post by kubb »

smokel wrote: post #49
jjgreen wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Welcome to capitalism!

Besides being a bit of a shallow comment, what exactly do you imply here? That capitalism logically implies that the rich become richer? I don't think this is necessarily the case, it just needs a stronger government than what the US currently has in place. (e.g. progressive taxation and strong antitrust policy seem to work fairly well in Europe).

But with how compounding works, isn't this outcome inevitable in capitalism? If the strong government prevents it then the first step for the rich is to weaken or co-opt the government, and exactly this has been happening.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#70

Post by pbhjpbhj »

aspaviento wrote: post #39
gib444 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does a billionaire have to associate with poor people? They can live in a complete bubble: house in the hills, driven by a chauffeur, private jets, private islands for holidays etc...?

The people who cook for them, the people who clean for them, the ones who take care of their kids, the one who sell them stuff or serve them in restaurants...

Also, they're not building the house or the jet, they're not growing the food, ... people close enough can be chosen for willingness to be sycophants and happiness to be servants. Unless you're feeding yourself from your own farm, or manufacturing your own electronics, there are limits to even a billionaires ability to control personnel.
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