Francesc Felipe Campillo, researcher at Econcult (University of Valencia), presents this Thursday, April 9, 2026, a communication entitled "AI Slop and reconfiguration of the media field: information quality and social justice in the generative era" within the framework of the IX International Congress of Communication Research.
Econcult presents research on AI Slop and the reconfiguration of the media field at the IX International Congress on Communication Research
Francesc Felipe Campillo, researcher at Econcult (Universitat de València), presents this Thursday, 9 April 2026, a paper entitled "AI Slop i reconfiguració del camp mediàtic: qualitat informativa i justícia social en l'era generativa" at the IX International Congress on Communication Research, organised by the Societat Catalana de Comunicació (SCC-IEC) and held in Barcelona on 9 and 10 April.
The presentation takes place at 10:30 am in Sala Coromines, as part of the thematic panel "AI, platforms and transformation of the media field", chaired by Cecilia Martínez.
"The central question is not only the truthfulness of content, but the social distribution of information quality."
The research addresses a growing and emergent phenomenon: the proliferation of low-quality AI-generated content — known as AI Slop — and its consequences for citizens' access to information. Moving beyond the public debate typically centred on disinformation and credibility, Felipe raises a fundamentally distributive question: who actually accesses quality information in the generative AI era?
The paper draws on data from the Survey of Cultural Habits and Practices in Spain, the Reuters Institute Digital News Report and the OECD PIAAC Survey of Adult Skills, all of which reveal significant gaps in reading literacy and news consumption by educational level. In Spain, only 4% of adults reach the highest levels of reading proficiency, compared to an OECD average of 12% — a gap that directly conditions citizens' ability to critically evaluate and filter content circulating in saturated digital environments.
Key findings
AI Slop may be accelerating a structural reconfiguration of the media field.
The system is tending towards a dualisation between a pole of automated production with high accessibility and low verification, and a pole of professional journalism typically associated with paid models.
Access to reliable information is increasingly dependent on users' cultural capital.
The central question is not only the truthfulness of content, but the social distribution of information quality.
The congress, which brings together communication researchers from across the Spanish- and Catalan-speaking world, is held at the Facultat de Comunicació i Relacions Internacionals Blanquerna (Universitat Ramon Llull) in Barcelona.
