25th June 2025: As a new AI-related definition of the word slop enters the Cambridge Dictionary, language experts are tracking emerging AI terms.
The traditional definition of slop is “liquid or wet food waste, especially when it is fed to animals”. The newly added definition is: content on the internet that is of very low quality, especially when it is created by artificial intelligence
The term slop has rapidly gained traction online, with online searches for the term AI slop increasing dramatically since April 2024 and continuing to grow (See link to Google trends below).
Colin McIntosh, Programme Manager, Cambridge Dictionary said: “The updated entry reflects growing concerns about increasing amounts of low-quality content created by AI. It’s an important reminder that quality and integrity remain unmistakably human. In an era of machine-made content, those values are more crucial than ever.”
Wendalyn Nichols, Publishing Manager, Cambridge Dictionary, said:
“Think of email in the 90s or hashtag in the 2000s. Now, AI-related words are becoming increasingly part of our everyday lives. It’s our job to track terms used in popular culture and add the ones that are likely to have staying power to the Dictionary.”
Emerging new AI words
Other new words about AI identified by lexicographers at the Cambridge Dictionary – the world’s most popular online dictionary for learners of English – reflect the evolving English language as technology continues to re-shape our world.
Terms such as AI washing, the behaviour of a company or organisation that tries to make people believe that it is using AI to make its products or services better, when really it is not doing this or is only partly doing it, and decel, someone who believes that AI and other new technologies are developing so quickly that they are likely to cause very serious problems and that progress should be deliberately slowed down, are being monitored for possible inclusion in the Cambridge Dictionary.
Other AI terms which are being monitored by Cambridge Dictionary lexicographers include:
Neocloud noun a start-up that specializes in AI-based cloud computing meta face noun
a trend where photos that have been enhanced using AI technology make everyone look similarly flawless and unrealistically beautiful BYOAI abbreviation abbreviation for “bring your own artificial intelligence”: the practice of companies saying that employees can use their own artificial intelligence tools when at work
e/acc noun
abbreviation for “effective accelerationism”: a movement that believes AI and other new technologies should be allowed to develop as quickly as possible without any restrictions
Other new terms capture a technological shift towards autonomous machines that can act independently and beyond the intelligence of humans.
artificial superintelligence noun
a type of artificial intelligence that is much more intelligent than any human and can think, act, learn etc. independently and beyond the abilities of people
agentic AI noun
a type of artificial intelligence that can make decisions and take actions without the need for human input
intention economy noun
a system in which AI learns what people are likely to want to buy or do in the future, with companies using the information to create corresponding products and services
