After being launched in the United States for six weeks, Meta officially introduced its AI-generated short video product — Vibes — to the European market. As an independent content stream within Meta AI applications, each short video on Vibes is generated by artificial intelligence. Users can either input text prompts to create videos or "Remix" others' works, adding music, adjusting styles, and combining visuals, and finally sharing them with one click to Vibes Feed, Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms. Meta positions it as a "social and collaborative AI creation experience," aiming to build a next-generation short video ecosystem driven by AI.

However, this strategy stands in sharp contrast to Meta's previous emphasis on "authentic content" and "opposition to low-quality short content." Earlier this year, Meta publicly encouraged creators to focus on "authentic storytelling" and took algorithmic measures to suppress "non-original" content. Now, however, it is boldly investing in fully AI-generated videos, sparking widespread skepticism from users and the industry.

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Intense user backlash: "No one wants AI slop"

As early as September when Vibes first debuted, there were numerous negative comments under Mark Zuckerberg's official post. High-rated comments directly pointed out: "No one wants this" "Bro, are you posting AI slop on your own app?" Some users asked confusedly: "I speak for everyone — what the heck is this?"

"AI slop" — a viral internet term — is now used to describe large amounts of low-quality, homogenized, and emotionless AI-generated content. With platforms like Sora and Vibes emerging, social networks are facing a "content inflation" crisis: the number of videos is increasing rapidly, but information density and emotional value are sharply diluted.

Meta's contradictory logic: On one hand, it fights against "low-value content," and on the other, it promotes AI-generated streams

Sarcasmically, just as Vibes was launched in Europe, platforms such as YouTube are intensifying policies to limit AI-generated content, requiring clear labeling or even restricting low-quality AI videos. However, Meta is doing the opposite, claiming that media generation within Meta AI applications has increased by over 10 times since the launch of Vibes, showing its firm investment in the AI content ecosystem.

The company argues that Vibes is not meant to replace human creativity, but to offer a "new collaborative model" — friends can remix videos together, add creative elements, and form "collective AI storytelling." However, critics point out that without original input and emotional authenticity, this "collaboration" is nothing more than an endless replication of algorithmic templates.

The ultimate battle between efficiency and authenticity

The launch of Vibes reflects the deep anxieties of tech giants in the AI content wave: how to balance content scalability with user trust? Meta chose to prioritize efficiency, hoping to lower the barriers to creation and increase user engagement through AI; but if it cannot address the aesthetic fatigue and trust crisis caused by "AI slop," this strategy may backfire.

The future of AI short videos should not be just "faster and more," but "more understanding and more meaningful." When AI becomes a brush, humans are still the painters — otherwise, even the smoothest AI videos are nothing more than hollow echoes of the digital age.