LinkedIn now lets users flag AI slop

LinkedIn now lets users flag content that “seems like AI slop”, as the professional networking service battles the artificial and low-quality posts flooding its platform.

The button goes beyond existing options to report offensive content, helping users highlight AI content that cheaply imitates real human output.

In a statement shared to the platform, LinkedIn chief product officer Hari Srinivasan on Friday called the battle on AI slop a “top priority” for the business.

LinkedIn already catches hundreds of thousands of automated comments each day, he said, with billions of mass-posting attempts and AI slop posts barred in recent months alone.

The new flagging feature will help LinkedIn better target AI slop — which can vary in format, medium, and purpose — while sharing the same uncanny qualities.

“Slop is hard to define and the definition changes; this lets us tune our models and make better feeds,” said Srinivasan.

Crucially, LinkedIn will not forbid users from using AI in their posts, with Srinivasan saying many people use AI to proofread their prose or stress-test their arguments.

Instead, LinkedIn will test a way to subtly inform posters when other LinkedIn users suspect their content feels inauthentic or too heavily reliant on AI tools.

LinkedIn itself had adopted AI tools to help users express their thoughts, and offered premium subscribers tools to “rewrite with AI”.

But Srinivasan said it will roll back this kind of AI tool, instead replacing it with a proofreading function he said retains the original author’s tone of voice.

Away from the professional networking platform, other social media and video giants are taking action against AI slop.

Snapchat last week announced it will stop platforming wholly-AI-generated videos in its primary Spotlight feed, while YouTube is taking steps to prevent users from monetising the most egregious AI slop content.

Never miss a story: sign up to SmartCompany’s free daily newsletter and find our best stories on LinkedIn.