AI Slop Is Killing the Joy of the Internet (with Bridget Todd)

Bridget Todd is the host of the podcast There Are No Girls on the Internet, a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center, and a longtime commentator on how platforms shape culture. And she says the rise of AI-generated videos has turned her — an OG superfan of Vine — against short-form video altogether. "I can't trust that any of these are real cats doing cute things," Bridget says. "It's completely turned me off of a kind of content that I've been enjoying for decades." Today on Revolution.Social, Bridget and Rabble discuss what diVine needs to do to bring back the joy of Vine; how AI slop triggers real physiological responses, even when we know it's fake; the disconnect between Silicon Valley's AI enthusiasm and everyone else's horror; and why movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter might not be possible in today's algorithmic landscape. They also explore the moral panic around kids online, why legislation aimed at "protecting children" often harms them most, and what it would take to build an internet rooted in love and joy instead of extraction. ⁠Follow Rabble on Bluesky⁠ ⁠Follow the podcast⁠ This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠LightningPod⁠, and executive produced by Alice Chan from ⁠Flock Marketing⁠. To learn more about Rabble’s social media bill of rights, and sign up for our newsletter, visit ⁠⁠https://revolution.social/