How can we tell the difference?

Sloane, Wendy

London Met Repository

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Sloane, Wendy (2026) How can we tell the difference? British Journalism Review, 37 (3). pp. 27-31. ISSN 0956-4748

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Abstract

According to Ofcom, more than half the population now gets its news from social media, rising to around 75 per cent among 16 to 24-year-olds. At the same time, those platforms – TikTok, Instagram and YouTube – are being flooded with a new kind of content: “AI slop”, fake images, videos and posts designed to look authentic, provoke strong emotional reactions to maximise (and monetise) online engagement, regardless of their authenticity.

This flood of fabricated AI content exists mainly for one purpose: to generate clicks, shares and advertising revenue. But, argues media critics, the problem extends beyond fake and unrealistic images. It also includes search engine optimisation (SEO) articles, fake reviews and plausible-sounding blog posts that quietly reshapes how information is consumed. In a world where so much is faked, how can we decide what is real?

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