Episode 7 of Vibe Coded: The Trashy Aesthetics of Slop

I’ve talked in length about the ethical quandaries surrounding generative AI, from the industrial-scale theft of intellectual property to the ways it harms both the natural as well as digital environments due to its extractive nature. But I also want to talk about the aesthetics of the slop output we have to contend with now on a regular basis, and I don’t just mean the political side of it—I and many others have been sounding the alarm that genAI lines right up with aesthetics of fascism . Rather, I want to explore the relationship between the slop machines and true art forms, and why we just aren’t seeing anything meaningful and lasting being produced using these problematic technologies.