Cybercriminals Are Complaining About AI Slop Flooding Their Forums
Key takeaways
- Only, this is not a regular internet user moaning about AI being forced into their favorite app.
- “People don’t like it,” says Ben Collier, a security researcher and senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.
- The researchers analyzed 97,895 AI-related conversations on cybercrime forums since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 until the end of last year.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photo-Illustration: Jobanny Cabrera; Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story. The complaint sounds familiar. “I’m disappointed that you are working to incorporate AI garbage into the site,” one annoyed person, posting anonymously, said in an online message. “No-one is asking for this—we want you to improve the site, stop charging for new features.”
Only, this is not a regular internet user moaning about AI being forced into their favorite app. Instead, they are complaining about a cybercrime forum’s plans to introduce more generative AI. Like millions of others, scammers, grifters, and low-level hackers are getting annoyed about AI encroaching into their lives and the rise of low-quality AI slop being posted in their online communities.
“People don’t like it,” says Ben Collier, a security researcher and senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. As part of a recent study into how low-level cybercriminals are using AI, Collier and fellow researchers spotted an increasing pushback over the use of generative AI in underground cybercrime forums and hacking groups.