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Between Populist Commentary and AI Slop, We Are Once Again Dying of Nostalgia

Crikey

ENRICHED

Details

Date Published
17 Apr 2026
Priority Score
1
Australian
Yes
Created
18 Apr 2026, 12:00 am

Authors (1)

Description

While the political right has been the most of obvious nostalgia factory in recent years, the appeal of AI-generated nostalgia slop is worryingly broad.

Summary

This article examines the proliferation of 'AI slop' and its role in reinforcing cultural nostalgia through generative media that mimics aesthetic pasts. The author argues that current frontier AI capabilities are inherently backward-looking, as they rely on existing datasets and frequently produce uncanny, 'dreamy' outputs that distort historical reality. While the piece touches on the erosion of information quality in the Australian media landscape, it focuses primarily on socio-cultural impacts rather than catastrophic biosecurity or physical safety risks.

Body

There are many reasons generative AI is the ideal technology for generating nostalgia. Thus far, most of the videos AI produces have an inherently dreamy quality — that slightly too smooth movement, the morphing quality of features, the uncanny facial expressions and peripheral details that are slightly off. But also, the most cutting-edge technology is, in its bones, backward-looking. By its very definition it cannot generate anything new; it can only draw on the aesthetics of the past. Take this post from The Karl Stefanovic Show‘s Instagram page, which uses AI to paint the soft focus, late-20th-century Australia Stefanovic says he grew up in.