If AI Creates Everything, What’s Original on the Internet Anymore?

When exploring why AI detectors struggle to distinguish human-written content from AI-generated text, we stumbled upon a surprising trend – nearly all online content seems to get flagged as AI-generated. Could this mean that in the digital landscape, everything reads like AI?

But why does it even matter if the content is AI-generated or human-made? Simple: the widespread SEO belief that Google penalises AI content, hurting its chances of ranking well. However, Google has clarified otherwise. 

As per their blog, Google’s ranking systems prioritise original, high-quality content that meets their E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) standard.

Google’s stance on AI content is nuanced. They specify that while AI can be part of the creative process, using automation solely to manipulate search rankings violates their spam policies. 

Reddit, meanwhile, has a different approach. 

What’s AI Slop

AI slop, also termed as ‘AI crap’, is essentially a flood of low-quality, non-human-generated content available online. The fear is that such content will increasingly infiltrate platforms like Google, filling search results with AI-generated text that lacks genuine human touch. 

The threat is catching up on Reddit too, a platform often celebrated as a place for authentic, human connection, which may face challenges as AI-generated content proliferates. According to Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, as the internet sees a general decline in content quality, Reddit’s authentic, human-created content could help it stand out as a trusted source and a critical resource for AI training.

He noted that to address content use, Reddit has established a public content policy alongside its privacy policy, setting guidelines for what happens to the data users share publicly. 

Reddit’s Strategy

Reddit CEO recently described the platform as a hub of “actual intelligence”. He said in an interview, “The source of artificial intelligence is actual intelligence and that's what you find on Reddit.”

This vision has stayed with Reddit for long. In May, OpenAI partnered with Reddit to integrate its discussions into ChatGPT and related AI products.

This collaboration allows OpenAI to tap into Reddit’s vast pool of community insights via its Data API, enhancing ChatGPT’s ability to engage in a broader, more nuanced range of human conversations. The result? An AI with a deeper understanding of human interaction and a more genuine conversational quality. 

In turn, Reddit plans to harness OpenAI’s technology to enrich its platform, introducing new tools for users and moderators that could elevate community engagement and functionality.

Reddit’s collaboration with major AI players isn’t limited to OpenAI alone. Earlier this year, Google also signed a data licensing deal with Reddit, reportedly costing $60 million annually, for access to real-time content from Reddit’s active discussions and news feeds via its API.

But does this partnership mean Reddit is falling into the AI slop?

What’s Next?

Google Search is redefining the online search landscape, as a recent Search Engine Land study predicting a massive 18% to 64% decline in organic clicks because of AI-driven search transforms results. This shift impacts everything from featured snippets and knowledge panels to search ads, transactional, and long-tail queries, reshaping user journeys and redefining search outcomes.

Amid this transformation, Google emphasises content quality as a key to staying relevant, encouraging creators to focus on alignment with systems that reward valuable, accurate information. It’s important to note that mobile disparities, website quality issues, accidental content alterations, and technical SEO challenges can all negatively impact traffic.

Today, Google handles 5.9 million searches per minute, outpacing Bing’s 500 million monthly users and Reddit’s 73.1 million daily active users. Yet, Bing and platforms like Perplexity AI and OpenAI are looking to narrow the gap with their own AI tools.