Six AI Questions I Want Answered in 2026: Catherine Thorbecke

Jan. 1, 2026, 7:00 PM UTC

The word of the year for 2025, according to Merriam-Webster, was “slop,” referring to the deluge of low-quality content churned out by artificial intelligence.

It’s a fitting reflection of the awkward phase we’ve entered three years after ChatGPT kicked off the global AI boom. We were promised tools to cure disease and solve climate change. What we mostly got in 2025 was machine-generated pornography, fake bunnies jumping on trampolines, and an internet that feels a little more spammy every day.

AI now fuels heated debates from the boardroom to the classroom. Yet for all the hype, and all ...



Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:

See Breaking News in Context

Bloomberg Law provides trusted coverage of current events enhanced with legal analysis.

Already a subscriber?

Log in to keep reading or access research tools and resources.