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Cambridge Dictionary adds new definition for 'slop' to reflect 'low-quality content created by AI'
An AI-related definition of the word "slop" has entered the Cambridge Dictionary for the first time, "reflecting growing concerns about increasing amounts of low-quality content created by AI".
The traditional definition of slop is: "Liquid or wet food waste, especially when it is fed to animals". The newly added definition is: "Content on the internet that is of very low quality, especially when it is created by artificial intelligence".
The term "slop" has rapidly gained traction online, the Dictionary said, with online searches increasing dramatically since April 2024 and continuing to grow, according to Google trends.
Colin McIntosh, programme manager at Cambridge Dictionary said: "The updated entry reflects growing concerns about increasing amounts of low-quality content created by AI. It’s an important reminder that quality and integrity remain unmistakably human. In an era of machine-made content, those values are more crucial than ever."
Publishing manager Wendalyn Nichols said: "Think of email in the ’90s or hashtag in the 2000s. Now, AI-related words are becoming increasingly part of our everyday lives. It’s our job to track terms used in popular culture and add the ones that are likely to have staying power to the Dictionary."
The Dictionary added: "Other new words about AI identified by lexicographers at the Cambridge Dictionary – the world’s most popular online dictionary for learners of English – reflect the evolving English language as technology continues to re-shape our world.
"Terms such as ‘AI washing’ – the behaviour of a company or organisation that tries to make people believe that it is using AI to make its products or services better, when really it is not doing this or is only partly doing it – and ‘decel’ – someone who believes that AI and other new technologies are developing so quickly that they are likely to cause very serious problems and that progress should be deliberately slowed down – are being monitored for possible inclusion in the Cambridge Dictionary."
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Other AI terms that are being monitored by Cambridge Dictionary lexicographers include "neocloud", a noun for a start-up that specialises in AI-based cloud computing; "Meta face", a noun for a trend where photos that have been enhanced using AI technology, make everyone look similarly flawless and unrealistically beautiful; the abbreviation "BYOAI" for "bring your own artificial intelligence", the practice of companies saying that employees can use their own artificial intelligence tools when at work; and the abbreviation "e/acc" for "effective accelerationism", a movement that believes AI and other new technologies should be allowed to develop as quickly as possible without any restrictions.
"Other new terms capture a technological shift towards autonomous machines that can act independently and beyond the intelligence of humans," the Dictionary continued. These include "artificial superintelligence", a type of AI that is much more intelligent than any human and can think, act and learn independently, beyond the abilities of people.
Similarly, "agentic AI" is a type of AI that can make decisions and take actions without the need for human input, while "intention economy" is a system in which AI learns what people are likely to want to buy or do in the future, with companies using the information to create corresponding products and services.
