The gaming world loves a good debate. Few topics spark as much noise right now as “AI slop.” It’s the term people use to describe low-quality content made with generative AI that lacks any input or creativity from humans.
I’ve been thinking about how gamers criticize how AI is used in gaming. Something feels off.
Industry analyst Joost van Dreunen recently made an interesting point. From the perspective of a traditional publisher, games like Balatro and Hollow Knight: Silksong shouldn’t exist. They’re small games developed by small teams. There’s no outrageous budgets or cutting-edge graphics.
Yet both games were major successes anyway.
His explanation is that players reward quality. They don’t care about scale if the game is good.
In that same discussion, he brought up “AI slop” and the idea that players reject this content because it lacks the human touch.
At first, that sounds right.
But the more I thought about it, the less it made sense.
If People Hate AI Slop, Why Do They Keep Watching It?
If AI slop is hated so much, why is it everywhere?
I’ve seen AI-generated videos on YouTube getting millions of views. A friend once showed me a channel full of videos featuring AI-generated lions. They knew it was fake and they didn’t care.
At CES, Samsung showed off a digital art frame that generates new artwork using AI. No human artists were involved. When I showed it to people I know, every one of them liked the idea of being able to change art whenever they wanted.
So where is this rejection everyone talks about?
Different People Want Different Things
The problem is assuming that everyone in the world wants the same thing.
This isn’t true.
Some people value human craftsmanship. They care about whether something was made by humans and are willing to pay more for handmade work. This group includes a lot of developers, artists, writers and anyone who labels themselves anti-AI. They’re also the loudest voices online.
Others couldn’t care less if a video they’re watching or the article they’re reading was made by AI or a human. If something is entertaining or useful, AI-generated content doesn’t bother them.
Van Dreunen’s point about Balatro and Silksong still holds. Those games were successful because they appealed to a certain demographic. The same can be said for AI-generated content. Just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s bad.
What the Term “AI Slop” Describes
AI slop isn’t really about AI. It’s more about how people use it.
AI slop happens when someone treats AI as an endless content factory. The people making content only care about pleasing some algorithm. They don’t curate or make any edits. The content is published without any thought on whether it’s actually any good. But that distinction rarely comes up.
No One Wants to Say This Out Loud
If quality were the real concern, then well-made games using AI responsibly wouldn’t be a problem.
The result would matter more than the tool, but that’s not how people react.
In most spaces, any use of AI is treated as committing an unforgivable sin. It doesn’t matter how it’s used. Using AI is a sign you’re not a real developer.
Imagine if it was revealed that Silksong used AI to help generate background assets. Everything else was made by humans and the game was still excellent.
Would people accept it?
Or would they reject it anyway?
What Are People Afraid Of?
When people criticize AI, they’re usually projecting their own insecurities.
People are worried about losing jobs. Some believe that it’s bad for the environment due to massive amounts of energy and water consumption data centers use. Others feel that using AI is morally wrong since it can be used to spread misinformation or create disturbing videos or images of innocent people.
Those fears are valid, but they aren’t the same as quality concerns.
Game development already relies on automation, physics engines, procedural generation, and photogrammetry. These tools replaced human labor too, yet no one wants to address that. AI feels different because it can create content just like a human can. That’s why it scares them.
What’s Missing From the Conversation
It would be better to focus on how AI should be used. How much human oversight is required. What guardrails should be put in place.
The ones criticizing AI slop have made some good points, but that doesn’t change the fact that people consume AI content every day. And they enjoy it. Their behavior doesn’t match the outrage.
While some people will always want the human touch, others just want something that’s entertaining.
There’s nothing wrong with either viewpoint, just don’t pretend they’re one and the same.
