tasteslop noun [U]
UK /ˈteɪst.slɒp/ US /ˈteɪst.slɑːp/
AI-generated content, such as images of clothes, objects, or interior design, that is designed to look tasteful and stylish but is actually bland and unoriginal
Good taste used to require context. Now it requires the right moodboard. Instagram made taste visible, algorithms made it repeatable, and AI made it scalable. Welcome to the age of tasteslop, where originality may be the last status symbol left.
[theestablished.com, 24 June 2026]
See also slop
vibe hacking noun [U]
UK /ˈvaɪb ˌhæk.ɪŋ/ US /ˈvaɪb ˌhæk.ɪŋ/
cybercrime that is carried out with the help of AI, using natural language to give instructions and letting AI generate the code or other tools
The same large language models (LLMs) that help engineers write code faster now help criminals operate faster. What began as “vibe coding,” a mindset that embraces AI output with minimal review, has evolved into “vibe hacking,” attackers delegating the design, orchestration, and execution of campaigns to AI systems.
[threatlocker.com, 21 April 2026]
See also vibe coding
dead internet theory noun [S]
UK /ˌded ˈɪn.tə.net ˌθɪə.ri/ US /ˌded ˈɪn.t̬ɚ.net ˌθɪr.i/
a theory that a lot of the internet is no longer created by real people but rather by bots and other AI tools
Sam Altman, the chief executive of ChatGPT creators OpenAI, has suggested that there might be some truth in the “dead internet theory”. The idea is a conspiracy theory that the majority of content and apparent people online are actually being automatically generated by computers, and that the internet is for the most part “dead”.
[independent.co.uk, 5 September 2025]
Sam Altman and his friends may well think the Internet is dead…
However, the Internet is a big place.
And “originality” as a status symbol…
🎉🎉🎉
Abdur and other people concerned/interested in the “Dead Internet”:
[thank you for the horns]
Wikipedia has this concept in the world of “conspiracy theories” as indeed did the Independent article. [yes, this is in the relevant template after you scroll down a long time and find other “dead” things and people like Paul McCartney and birds].
Some of this discussion may have originated five years ago in THE ATLANTIC [which is one of the more liberal/left magazines of record and opinion].
Wikipedia talks about how the majority of web traffic [some 52 percent now] is controlled and/or facilitated by bots.
And I have a feeling that “vibe hacking” may also be doing its best to “kill” the Internet we know and love today.
True also dig
Nice!!
I have heard of the dead internet theory at least a few times before, so nice to see it have a chance to be added to the dictionary!
I think the dead internet theory should be added to the dictionary. It is a well-known term nowadays.
The terms “tasteslop” and “vibe hacking” perfectly capture the nuances of current digital culture and its intersection with artificial intelligence. It makes me wonder how quickly these terms will become commonplace, and if we’ll need tools to help us understand and document them. google
These three words are all related to the internet and specifically AI in some way. I’m curious about how representative they are of the new language/terms entering vocabulary. Are most new words related to internet/AI or is this an unrepresentative selection? Wbat percentage might be estimated?
Missing between “tasteslop” and “slop” is “AI slop”. This is surely the more common phrase, with tasteslop (a word I have ever met) as a sub-class.
That’s if the term makes any sense. Debased aesthetic has always been the mass-market norm, long before AI, commonly referred to as rip-off. Humans are allowed to pump out debased aesthetic, but AIs have to be singled out and whined at? What hypocrisy!
it is very useful in real life
awesome