Related papers: Why Slop Matters
AI "slop" is an increasingly popular term used to describe low-quality AI-generated text, but there is currently no agreed upon definition of this term nor a means to measure its occurrence. In this work, we develop a taxonomy of "slop"…
"AI slop", that is, low-quality AI-generated content, is increasingly affecting software development, from generated code and pull requests to documentation and bug reports. However, there is limited empirical research on how developers…
In this article, we argue that AI slop in software is creating a tragedy of the commons. Individual productivity gains from AI-generated content externalize costs onto reviewer capacity, codebase integrity, public knowledge resources,…
Digital technologies are transforming democratic life in conflicting ways. This article bridges two perspectives to unpack these tensions. First, we present an original survey of software developers in Silicon Valley, interrogating how…
Artificial intelligence (AI) retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) tools now enable educators to transform course materials into diverse multimedia at scale. However, it remains unclear whether such AI-generated content functions as a…
There is a growing discussion about social media feeds being increasingly filled with AI-generated content. Due to its visual plausibility, low cost, and fast production speed, AI-generated content is said to be highly effective in "gaming…
Generative AI systems are predominantly designed, evaluated, and marketed as intelligent systems which will benefit society by augmenting or automating human cognitive labor, promising to increase personal, corporate, and macroeconomic…
Awareness about the immense impact that artificial intelligence (AI) might have or already has made on the social, economic, political, and cultural realities of our world has become part of the mainstream public discourse. Attributes such…
CLIP has emerged as a powerful multimodal model capable of connecting images and text through joint embeddings, but to what extent does it 'see' the same way humans do - especially when interpreting artworks? In this paper, we investigate…
Digital platforms capitalize on users' labor, often disguising essential contributions as casual activities or consumption, regardless of users' recognition of their efforts. Data annotation, content creation, and engagement with…
As the digital economy grows increasingly intangible, traditional productivity measures struggle to capture the true economic impact of artificial intelligence (AI). AI systems capable of cognitive work significantly enhance productivity,…
Prior work has mapped which workplace tasks are exposed to AI, but less is known about whether workers perceive these tasks as meaningful or as busywork. We examined: (1) which dimensions of meaningful work do workers associate with tasks…
A new class of tools, colloquially called generative AI, can produce high-quality artistic media for visual arts, concept art, music, fiction, literature, video, and animation. The generative capabilities of these tools are likely to…
Artificial intelligence (AI) is currently considered a sustainability "game-changer" within and outside of academia. In order to discuss sustainable AI this article draws from insights by critical data and algorithm studies, STS,…
Creativity is a deeply debated topic, as this concept is arguably quintessential to our humanity. Across different epochs, it has been infused with an extensive variety of meanings relevant to that era. Along these, the evolution of…
While artificial intelligence has the potential to process vast amounts of data, generate new insights, and unlock greater productivity, its widespread adoption may entail unforeseen consequences. We identify conditions under which AI, by…
What looks like acceleration can be a quiet transfer of burden from the present to the future. Attempts to replace human labor with AI systems are often presented as rational responses to technological progress, but that view is often…
The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, tools, and technologies has opened up novel, unprecedented opportunities for businesses to innovate, differentiate, and compete. However, growing concerns have emerged about the…
This pictorial aims to critically consider the nature of text-to-audio and text-to-music generative tools in the context of explainable AI. As a group of experimental musicians and researchers, we are enthusiastic about the creative…
For being potentially destructive, in practice incomprehensible and for the most unintelligible, contemporary technology is setting high challenges on our society. New conception methods are urgently required. Reorganizing ideas and…