--- title: "John Oliver Aghast at How AI Slop Is Devouring the Web" description: "Low-quality AI slop is chewing up the internet as we know it. John Oliver makes some very good points explaining why that's not great!" date: "2025-06-25" modified: "2025-06-25" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/john-oliver-ai-slop" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai slop" - "artificial intelligence" - "john oliver" - "web" --- # John Oliver Aghast at How AI Slop Is Devouring the Web ![Low-quality AI slop is chewing up the internet as we know it. John Oliver makes some very good points explaining why that's not great!]() *\Image: HBO via YouTube / Futurism\* It's safe to say that comedian and "Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver isn't a fan of AI slop — and he's got a compelling argument for why you shouldn't be, either. As the comedian [laid out in the latest episode]() of his popular HBO show, AI-generated content is suddenly everywhere online. It's going viral on social media, [crowding Google Search results]() and discovery [platforms like Pinterest](), and has made [churning out spam](), misinformation, and otherwise empty, low-quality digital stuff easier and cheaper than ever. The speed at which spammers and slop farmers can blast out AI content is clearly overwhelming for platforms, a problem backdropped by competing tech economy incentives: players like [Google]() and [Meta](), for example, are actively trying to win the AI arms race at the same time as low-quality AI slop is polluting their existing platforms, while popular web search and discovery services writ large have generally declined to ban AI content outright. Which means that, right now, it certainly looks like slop isn't going anywhere, at least anytime soon. As Oliver puts it, the "spread of AI generation tools has made it very easy to mass produce and flood social media sites with cheap, professional-looking, often deeply weird content." "If that's starting to give you an uneasy feeling in your stomach right now, get used to it," he adds, "because it seems extremely likely that we're gonna be drowning in this sh\*t for the foreseeable future." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWpg1RmzAbc As Oliver also points out, the problem isn't just that the internet is an increasingly murky, crowded place to spend time. While some AI slop is kooky enough that it's legitimately fun, a lot of folks are having a difficult time parsing what's real from what's fake. That consensus deficit has [serious implications]() for AI-spun misinformation, which has started to accelerate the confusion and chaos already inherent to breaking news scenarios like natural disasters and [armed conflicts](). Spammers are using this gap in digital literacy around AI to their advantage, too. Earlier this year, [*Futurism* published a story]() about a slop farmer named Jesse Cunningham who uses AI to churn out fake, low-quality clickbait on social media platforms like Facebook and Pinterest. In an unlisted video we obtained, Cunningham — who was also highlighted in Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" slop segment — brags that his target audience for his churn-and-burn content is older women, who likely don't know what they're clicking on is AI. In other words, it's content like Cunningham's that's negatively impacting the livelihoods of artists, content creators, and other creatives who rely on social media and the internet to share and monetize their real, time-consuming work. Sorry, folks: the web is melting. **More on AI slop:** [*ChatGPT Has Already Polluted the Internet So Badly That It's Hobbling Future AI Development*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()