LinkedIn Adds New ‘Seems Like AI Slop’ Button to Report Low-Quality Content

The rise of artificial intelligence-generated content on social media platforms has led to a proliferation of low-quality posts that prioritize clicks over substance. In an effort to combat this trend, LinkedIn is introducing a new “Seems like AI slop” button that allows users to flag posts they believe are AI-generated.

The move comes as no surprise, given the growing recognition within the industry that AI-generated content is a major problem. According to data from Pangram, a commercial AI detection tool, nearly two-thirds of long-form AI content on LinkedIn is flagged as low-quality or insincere. This has led to platforms like Substack and LinkedIn struggling to keep up with the sheer volume of automated posts flooding their feeds.

The introduction of this button raises questions about our collective online behavior. Are we relying too heavily on tools to sift through the signal from the noise, rather than engaging with real people who have something meaningful to say? The fact that we’re more interested in filtering out low-quality content than in engaging with genuine human-generated posts suggests a growing desensitization to the value of authentic online interactions.

Furthermore, relying on algorithms and detection tools to identify AI-slop raises concerns about the role of technology in content moderation. What happens when these machines get it wrong? When they produce false positives or flag genuine human-generated content as “slop”? These are important questions that require critical thinking and evaluation.

LinkedIn’s decision to retire its AI-driven “enhance your post” feature in favor of a new proofreading tool that preserves the user’s voice intact suggests a recognition of the limitations of relying on technology to solve these problems. However, this shift still raises questions about what kind of content we want to see on our feeds.

The constant bombardment of low-quality content that prioritizes clicks over substance can erode our critical thinking skills and make us more susceptible to manipulation by advertisers and influencers. It also creates a culture where human-generated content is viewed as somehow “better” or “more authentic” than AI-generated content, rather than being evaluated on its own merits.

As we increasingly rely on social media platforms for information, entertainment, and connection, it’s essential that we think critically about the kind of content they’re serving up. We need to ask ourselves what we want from these platforms and whether the tools and features they provide are truly helping us achieve those goals.