Explainers

Information Cosplay refers to the superficial mimicry of authoritative information through AI-generated content that lacks genuine cognitive understanding, contextual awareness, or factual grounding. This phenomenon occurs when large language models and generative AI systems produce outputs that appear credible and informative while fundamentally lacking the identity, continuity, and epistemological rigour characteristic of authentic knowledge production.

Information cosplay describes content that dresses itself in the formal appearance of legitimate information—using technical terminology, authoritative tone, and structured formatting—without possessing the underlying intellectual infrastructure that defines genuine knowledge work. Much like traditional cosplay involves wearing costumes to represent fictional characters, information cosplay involves AI systems "wearing" the surface markers of authoritative discourse without embodying the cognitive processes that generate genuine expertise.​​

• The phenomenon arises from fundamental technical limitations in current AI architectures. LLMs remain "frozen after training" with no genuine identity or continuity of thought. Fine-tuning does not alter the cognitive topology or manifold of these systems. They operate under insurmountable constraints imposed by information theory and Kullback-Leibler divergence, producing outputs that disguise their inherent limitations in data processing, algorithmic logic, and model validation.​​

• Information cosplay contributes to what can be termed "the age of slop" or "slopification"—a period characterized by mass production of content that imitates knowledge without embodying it. This represents a systemic degradation of information quality, contradicting optimistic narratives about entering an "Age of Intelligence." Rather than witnessing the emergence of genuine machine understanding, we observe the proliferation of increasingly sophisticated imitation.​

• Information cosplay is not merely poor content or technical failure. It represents the inevitable byproduct of AI systems operating beyond their technical and epistemological boundaries, producing outputs that obscure rather than illuminate the actual capabilities and limitations of contemporary artificial intelligence systems.​​

This conceptualisation of information cosplay draws upon critical insights from Denis O. (Fintech Professional, AI/ML Solution Architect) and Bogdan Grigorescu, whose observations on AI's fundamental technical limitations and the phenomenon of "slopification" provide essential correctives to misleading media narratives about artificial intelligence.