Macquarie Dictionary Names 'AI Slop' as 2025 Word of the Year

Dictionary Committee's Unanimous Choice

Macquarie Dictionary, Australia's authoritative reference for English language usage, has announced "AI slop" as its Word of the Year for 2025 1

1

2

2

. The term, defined as "low-quality content created by generative AI, often containing errors, and not requested by the user," won both the committee vote and the people's choice award 2

2

.

The committee, comprising Macquarie Dictionary's editorial team, ABC language research specialist Tiger Webb, and cryptic crossword expert David Astle, emphasized that the selection reflects "a major aspect of society or societal change throughout the year" 2

2

. Committee members noted that while people previously learned to become "search engineers" to find meaningful information, they now must become "prompt engineers" to wade through AI slop 2

2

.

The Proliferation of AI-Generated Content

The phenomenon of AI slop has become increasingly pervasive throughout 2025, with examples ranging from bizarre Facebook images of "Jesus made out of shrimps" to more sophisticated forms of content manipulation 1

1

. High-profile figures, including US President Donald Trump, have regularly uploaded AI-generated videos to their social media accounts, with The New Yorker dubbing him the "emperor" of such content 2

2

.

The term has evolved beyond mere description to encompass various forms of AI-generated content. Cryptic crossword expert David Astle noted that "AI slop" serves as this decade's equivalent of spam, with the term spawning variations like "slopaganda," "slop music," and "corpslop" 2

2

. The Australian Electoral Commission has warned about the increasing use of AI in communications, highlighting concerns about deepfake videos, manipulated media, and falsified audio 2

2

.

Global Dictionary Trends Reflect AI Anxiety

Macquarie's choice aligns with a broader pattern among international dictionaries, all selecting AI-related terms that reflect societal concerns about artificial intelligence and digital culture 3

3

. Cambridge Dictionary selected "parasocial," describing connections people feel with celebrities, fictional characters, or AI chatbots they don't actually know 3

3

. Collins Dictionary chose "vibe coding," referring to creating applications by describing them to AI rather than writing code manually 3

3

.

Dictionary.com selected the viral TikTok slang "six-seven," which experts describe as "the logical endpoint of being perpetually online, scrolling endlessly, consuming content fed to users by algorithms trained by other algorithms" 1

1

. This collective focus on AI-related terminology across multiple dictionaries underscores the profound impact artificial intelligence has had on language and society in 2025.

Industry Impact and Professional Displacement

The rise of AI slop has had tangible effects on various industries and professions. According to Forbes, AI-generated content is replacing once-valued professions, while some entrepreneurs have turned to creating AI content as a "side gig" after being laid off from internet companies 1

1

. This trend has transformed AI content creation into a new form of gig economy work, similar to Uber driving or street vending.

Researcher Gary Marcus, who studies the intersection of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence, describes AI as "a souped-up regurgitating machine trained on mined, copyrighted material" 1

1

. This characterization highlights concerns about the quality and originality of AI-generated content, as well as potential copyright issues surrounding the training data used by AI systems.