Everyone says AI makes taste more valuable. This month's Gather Signal asks which kind of taste they mean, and whether AI slop is the new clickbait. Host Jason Oberholtzer sits down with Christophe Jammet, Matt Kosinski and Leslie Peterson for three signals and a synthesis. Matt argues the taste getting all the credit is managerial taste, the dashboard kind that makes line go up. Leslie says AI fatigue is already here, from school event posters to marketing copy, and the market hasn't caught up. CJ sees that fatigue turning into a counterculture where being a little unpolished is the tell of being human. Along the way: shrimp Jesus, a kindergarten postcard mistaken for AI, an academic paper that defines slop in ultra-processed-food terms, and what em dashes have to do with any of it.
Guests:
Christophe Jammet, Matt Kosinski, Leslie Peterson. Hosted by Jason Oberholtzer.
The paper Jason reads from: Galip and Lupinacci, "Degenerative AI: AI slop, brainrot, and the gimmick of generative culture" (2026), https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549426146...