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Re:AI Slop Is Killing Online Communities by chongli on Thursday May 07, 2026 @11:27PM (#48058162)
It's a market for lemons [1]. The issue is that if AI slop can't be readily distinguished from real human content, the real human stuff will get less and less attention over time. With less attention, people lose interest in writing, and eventually abandon the community altogether. As genuine human writers leave the community, the concentration of AI slop increases, and readers begin to realize that there isn't anything of value left to read, so they depart as well.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons

Re:AI Slop Is Killing Online Communities by senordevnyc on Friday May 08, 2026 @12:33PM (#48065415)
As genuine human writers leave the community, the concentration of AI slop increases, and readers begin to realize that there isn't anything of value left to read, so they depart as well.

How will they realize if AI content is indistinguishable?

Re:AI Slop Is Killing Online Communities by chongli on Friday May 08, 2026 @02:18PM (#48066827)
Because it’s not 100% indistinguishable. It’s practically indistinguishable for the purposes of moderation (or at least moderation at scale), but recognizable because it provides no value to the reader. It’s empty calories for readers in search of content with real substance.