Mother Jones illustration; Getty(3)

The staff of Mother Jones is, once again, rounding up the heroes and monsters of the past year. This is a non-exhaustive and totally subjective list, giving our reporters a chance to write about something that brought joy, discontent, or curiosity. Happy holidays.

It was a busy year for Peyton Manning. The retired NFL quarterback saved a failing dog shelter, adopted an 8-year-old girl named Lily, bought a minivan for a single mom, encouraged a boy with Down syndrome to play piano, and took a teenage cancer patient to prom. Popular posts on Facebook boasted his heroism: “Cancer Took Her Hair. Peyton Manning Gave Her the Strength to Walk Down the Aisle Without It”; “She Survived Cancer Because of Peyton Manning—Then Took Off Her Wig on Live TV.”; “She Told Him Not to Come In—Because She Had No Hair. What Peyton Manning Did Next Left Everyone in Tears.”

AI data centers are straining electrical grids across the country so that our president can post an AI-generated video of himself dumping shit on protesters from a fighter jet.

Perhaps, as thousands of enthusiastic baby boomers have gushed in the comments, Manning really does have a heart of gold. Unfortunately, all of these stories—and their attendant uncanny images—are AI slop.

In 2025, slop is everywhere. Low-effort, low-quality, AI-generated nonsense is polluting our social media feeds, search engine results, scientific journals, music streaming services,

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