INSIGHT ‘‘ UKeiG Drowning in slop O


PEN season has been declared on social media and AI with a flurry of criticism of abuse, fakery, addictive algorithms,


dangerous sycophantic responses, and even malevolent and deceitful AI models “ignoring human instructions, cheating and lying”. The latter accusation appeared in the Guardian newspaper (https://tinyurl.com/ mw4yzb25) in late March. “Chatbots and agents disregard direct instructions, evade safeguards and deceive humans and other AIs, according to research funded by the government’s AI Safety Institute.” Unnerving in the context agentic AI tools now able to manage tasks on your computer.


Implications


All hell broke loose when ChatGPT recently announced an ad-funded model. It unleashed a debate on the implications of such a move, with Open AI whistle- blower Zoë Hitzig warning that the increasingly manipulative AI technology was ‘gambling with people’s minds’ (https:// tinyurl.com/3pmzx4b2) and that “unchecked machine learning will destroy our mental health”. She highlighted the dangerous social, political and psychological risks of profiling, with millions of people being pushed ads based upon incredibly personal and intimate conversations with chatbots.


In March, the press also reported on academics “drowning in scholarly slop” (https://tinyurl.com/4hkeswen). Fake publications. Hallucinated citations. AI chatbots have “loosened our relationship with the truth” and threatened the integrity of the scholarly publishing ecosystem. Exacerbating this dilemma is that once the fakery is in the citation chain, its bibliometric impact grows and grows. There has been a rally cry for


April-May 2026


publishers, research institutions and tech companies to collaborate to “protect the integrity of the scholarly record”. There was no mention of our sector in the article. Are we missing a trick in terms of visibility?


Tech bro bias


Gender disparity in AI has also been called out with a push to “get more girls into computing” to avoid the risk of “misogynistic robots’ (https://tinyurl. com/mtm9xxph). Wendy Hall, Professor of Computer Science at Southampton University, declared that “AI is too important to be left to men” and that “women are needed to counter the tech bro bias in AI programming.” She proclaimed that it was ‘more important than ever’ that girls study computing “to ensure that the rapid technological advances transforming society reflected the needs of women as well as men.” The statistics are compelling. “The number of girls taking computing has more than halved over the last decade. Only about 20 per cent of those taking computer science GCSE are girls, and just 28 per cent of girls aspire to work in the technology industry compared with 60 per cent of boys.”


The Government is working to break down barriers (https://tinyurl.com/2a6tjdy8) to help more women and girls enter the tech sector. “Women at every stage of their careers are set to benefit from new government measures aimed at boosting female participation in tech.” Perhaps a more computing/coding focused library school curriculum would support this? As I completed this Insight column, the tide continues to turn on AI and social media. Headlines declaring “social media cesspits”, “lethal chatbots” and the perils of “infinite scrolling” abound. The government has stepped in to reclaim childhood with commitments to more


robust policing of social media and online safety. The PM has alluded to the potential regulation of addictive algorithms. A high profile “social media addiction trial” in the US saw Meta and Google – part of the US Big Tech oligarchy – under fire. While the focus has been on under-16s, the Government views the crisis as cross generational. There are polarised views on this, and pundits on a recent BBC Radio 4 discussion warned against oversimplifying a hugely complex topic. Algorithms are sophisticated and lack transparency. Regulatory wands can’t be waved over them.


Social media


In a recent call to a friend, I lamented the stream of fake images, short videos and AI-generated verbosity clogging my Facebook feed. My heart goes out to the younger and next generation of library and information professionals struggling to differentiate between fact and fiction. In an amusing aside I was pulled up several weeks ago for writing about 2musical theatricality”. “This must be AI-generated,” commented one observer. It was absolutely 100 per cent musically, theatrically human.


Earlier this year the BBC reported that “AI slop is transforming social media – and a backlash is brewing” (https://tinyurl. com/bdzyemsh). “Meta, which runs social media sites Facebook, Instagram and Threads, is not only allowing people to post AI-generated content - it’s launched products to enable more of it to be made. Image and video generators are now being offered across the board.” Developing the skills set required to detect fraud and fakery has never been more important.


Fingers crossed we regulate this industry sooner rather than later, for our sanity, if nothing else. IP


INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 29


Fake publications. Hallucinated citations. AI chatbots have ‘loosened our relationship with the truth’ and threatened the integrity of the scholarly publishing ecosystem.


Gary Horrocks is UKeiG Business Coordinator and Editor of eLucidate(info.ukeig@ cilip.org.uk, @ukeig.bsky.social).


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