The Macquarie Dictionary has crowned “AI slop” as its word of the year for 2025, a nod to the growing influence of artificial intelligence in our daily lives.

This phrase describes the often flawed and substandard content produced by generative AI systems, highlighting a trend where quality is sacrificed for convenience.

Each year, the Macquarie Dictionary convenes a panel to review and decide on new entries that have made their way into the dictionary. This year’s panel included the dictionary’s editorial team, along with radio host and writer David Astle, and language research expert Tiger Webb.

In their announcement, the committee remarked on the widespread understanding of “slop” in 2025, specifically referring to AI-generated content that lacks depth and usefulness.

“We understand now in 2025 what we mean by slop, AI-generated slop, which lacks meaningful content or use,” the committee said.

“The question is, are the people ingesting and regurgitating this content soon to be called AI sloppers?”

The committee’s honourable mentions included “clanker”, a usually derogatory term used to describe an AI-driven robot that completes tasks normally performed by a human.

Medical misogyny was also nominated, which is the entrenched prejudice against females in the context of medical treatment and knowledge, especially in the area of reproductive health.

The word of the year often reflects societal change throughout the year.