Snapchat announced it will stop recommending AI-generated videos in its Spotlight feed. The company said it wants to promote authentic, human-made content instead.
Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, made the announcement on a Friday. It joins other platforms taking steps against what is commonly called AI slop.
AI slop refers to writing, images, and videos created entirely by artificial intelligence tools. This type of content has spread online as AI tools have become easier to use.
Snap is not banning all AI content from its platform. The company still offers its own AI tools that let users edit and enhance videos.
Content that is AI enhanced or edited will still appear in Snapchat recommendations. Only videos that are wholly AI-generated will be pushed out of the Spotlight feed.
Snap said this type of content is often low-quality and repetitive. The company said it does not match what users want to see.
Other Platforms Take Similar Steps
Snapchat is not alone in this effort. Over the past two weeks, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Substack have each rolled out policies targeting AI-generated content.
Substack introduced a new tool that lets readers detect AI-generated writing on the platform. Chief executive Chris Best said it is getting harder to tell what is real online.
Best pointed to research showing that up to 40% of writing on social media may now be fake or AI-generated. He said platforms that reward fake content create a race to the bottom.
LinkedIn added a button that lets users report posts or comments that appear to be AI-generated. Chief product officer Hari Srinivasan called AI slop a top priority for the company.
Srinivasan said LinkedIn has blocked billions of attempts to post AI-generated comments in recent months. He added that the platform now catches hundreds of thousands of automated comment attempts every day.
LinkedIn is also removing a feature that prompted users to enhance posts with AI. The platform will instead return to a simple proofreading tool.
YouTube Updates Monetization Rules
YouTube, owned by Google, updated its monetization policies this month. The changes target what the platform calls inauthentic content.
The site now separates videos into three categories that cannot earn money on the platform. These are generic, repetitive, and template-based content.
Research from last year found many YouTube channels made up entirely of AI-generated videos. Some of these channels had millions of subscribers and earned millions of dollars.
YouTube's trust and safety chief Matt Halprin discussed the updated rules in an interview. He said AI tools can help creators but are increasingly used to make low-quality videos.
Halprin said the same technology that enables good content also enables content farming. He said content farming is what YouTube wants to avoid.
Recent research also found that people generally view AI-generated content as low-quality. A separate survey found that seeing more fake AI content in a feed makes people less likely to trust any content they see online.
