LinkedIn is rolling out a new tool that lets users flag posts as “Seems like AI slop” — the latest effort by a major social platform to combat the rising tide of low-quality, artificially generated content. The Microsoft-owned professional network announced the feature on Thursday, positioning it as part of a broader crackdown on inauthentic posts that have frustrated users and eroded trust in the platform.
How the new reporting button works
In a post on LinkedIn, Chief Product Officer Hari Srinivasan acknowledged the problem directly. “AI slop is a top priority for all of us. We really care about this. People come to LinkedIn to connect with real people and share their real perspectives, ideas, and expertise,” he wrote. The new button will allow users to provide direct feedback on posts that appear to be written by AI, which LinkedIn will use to train its moderation models to better identify similar content in the future.
Also read: Amazon’s $220B bet on AI infrastructure pays off — for now
LinkedIn is also deploying new automated defenses that it says now block “hundreds of thousands” of automated comment attempts daily, and millions of automation attempts in just the past couple of months. The company is introducing classifiers specifically designed to detect AI slop and other low-quality content, which will reduce the visibility of such posts in suggested content recommendations from outside a user’s network.
A broader industry reckoning with AI content
LinkedIn’s move comes amid a wider backlash against AI-generated content across the web. Last week, publishing platform Substack added a tool to help users identify AI-written content through a partnership with Pangram, a startup that this week announced $9 million in new funding to tackle the problem of AI content flooding the internet.
Also read: Dili raises $21.7 million to bring AI compliance tools to the US infrastructure boom
The issue has also affected newer platforms. Digg shut down its Reddit competitor in March, citing an inability to control the number of bots flooding the site. Internet infrastructure firm Cloudflare reported that bot traffic now exceeds human-generated requests on the web, a milestone it reached faster than previously predicted.
What LinkedIn is doing differently
Beyond the reporting button, LinkedIn is taking several other steps. The platform will begin privately flagging in users’ dashboards when others believe their content comes off as inauthentic due to heavy AI use. The company says this is intended to help users improve their writing if they are simply using AI to refine their own work, rather than posting what is considered full-on “slop.”
Notably, LinkedIn is removing its own “enhance your post” feature, which used AI to help users write. It is replacing it with a proofreading tool that corrects grammar and spelling without altering the user’s voice. Other improvements include expanding access to profile and page verification tools, and adding an option to block content from company pages users no longer want to see.
The changes signal a shift in how platforms are approaching AI-generated content — moving from encouraging AI-assisted creation to actively policing it. For LinkedIn, which positions itself as a network for authentic professional interaction, the credibility cost of unchecked AI slop is particularly high. The question now is whether these measures will be enough to restore user trust, or whether the battle against automated content will require even more aggressive interventions.
Be the first to comment