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As AI-generated content floods the internet, platforms offer users new ways to filter the digital noise.
Artificial intelligence-generated content is increasingly pervasive across digital platforms, creating what critics have dubbed “AI slop” — low-quality, synthetic material ranging from bizarre images to fake celebrity videos and computer-generated music.
The proliferation of this content has sparked backlash from users seeking authentic human-created work. In response, several major platforms have begun introducing features that allow users to control how much AI-generated material appears in their feeds.
“It’s incredibly difficult to entirely remove AI slop content from all your feeds,” warns Henry Ajder, an AI advisor to businesses and governments who has studied deepfakes since 2018. He compares the current situation to the early industrial revolution before pollution controls existed: “It’s going to be very, very hard for people to avoid inhaling, in this analogy.”
Pinterest was among the first major platforms to respond to user complaints about synthetic content overwhelming its inspiration boards. The company recently introduced a “tuner” feature that allows users to adjust the amount of AI content they see.
Initially launched on Android and desktop versions with a gradual iOS rollout, the tuner targets categories “highly prone to AI modification or generation” including beauty, art, fashion, and home decor. Additional categories have since been added, covering architecture, entertainment, various fashion segments, health, food and drink.
To access these controls, Pinterest users can navigate to Settings, select “refine your recommendations,” and tap on “GenAI interests” where toggles allow them to reduce AI content in specific categories.
TikTok, with its massive short-video sharing platform, has identified at least 1.3 billion clips labeled as AI-generated. The company announced in November that it was testing an update giving users greater control over synthetic content in their For You feeds, though the widespread availability of this feature remains unclear.
Users who have received the update can access these controls through Settings, then Content Preferences, followed by Manage Topics. There, alongside sliders for content categories like dance or lifestyle, users should find a new option specifically for adjusting exposure to AI-generated content.
TikTok emphasizes that these controls won’t eliminate AI content entirely but rather help tailor feeds to user preferences. “This means that people who love AI-generated history content can see more of this content, while those who’d rather see less can choose to dial things down,” the company explained.
In the music streaming industry, European-based platform Deezer has taken a particularly strong stance against synthetic content by implementing AI labeling. According to the company, 60,000 fully AI-generated tracks—representing over 39% of daily uploads—flood its platform each day. In 2023 alone, Deezer detected and labeled more than 13.4 million AI tracks, many uploaded by accounts attempting to generate fraudulent streaming revenue.
For those seeking more radical solutions, a new generation of alternative platforms explicitly targeting users who want to avoid AI content has emerged. Cara, a portfolio-sharing platform for artists, bans AI-generated work entirely. Pixelfed, an ad-free Instagram alternative organized into server-based communities, includes spaces where synthetic art is prohibited. A new social media platform called Spread promises content for people wanting to “access human ideas” and “escape the flood of AI slop.”
Another anticipated entrant is diVine, a reboot of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s defunct video app Vine. Currently available as a limited pre-release for iOS with an Android beta expected soon, diVine prominently features the promise of “No AI Slop” and employs multiple detection methods to identify synthetic content.
As AI-generated material continues proliferating across the digital landscape, these filtering options and alternative platforms represent early attempts to address growing consumer demand for authentic human-created content amidst the rising tide of synthetic media.
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8 Comments
Interesting to see the industry responding to user demands for more authentic content. Platforms will need to stay nimble as AI capabilities continue to evolve.
Absolutely, this is just the beginning. Ongoing innovation and user feedback will be critical to strike the right balance between automation and human curation.
Good point about the difficulty of entirely removing AI-generated content. Providing users with more granular control is a sensible approach as a first step.
The comparison to the early industrial revolution and uncontrolled pollution is an apt one. We’ll need robust solutions to manage the flood of synthetic content. Glad to see progress on this front.
The ‘tuner’ feature on Pinterest sounds like a useful tool to let users customize their feed. Giving people more control over the AI content they see is a smart move.
Absolutely, this kind of user-driven curation will be key as AI-generated content proliferates. Good to see platforms empowering their users in this way.
Interesting to see platforms responding to user concerns about AI-generated content. Striking the right balance between automation and authenticity will be an ongoing challenge.
Agreed, it’s important to have controls to filter out the low-quality AI ‘slop’ and preserve human-created content. This is a positive step.