Updated July 2026
What does AI味 mean?
AI味 (AI wèi) means AI slop / that AI smell in internet Chinese slang. The generic, over-smooth, synthetic feel of AI-made content — in writing, images, voice, or design. It flags a perceived style, not proof that AI was used. Literally, it means "AI flavour".
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A 30-second take on AI味 — what it means, where it came from, and how to use it.
班味 is the smell of your job. AI味, AI wèi, is the smell of a machine. 这篇文章AI味太重了. Too smooth, too balanced, weirdly agreeable, nothing at stake. It is an accusation about style, not proof that anything was generated. But people can smell it now.
Example
这篇文章AI味太重了。
Zhè piān wénzhāng AI wèi tài zhòng le.
This article reeks of AI.
Where AI味 comes from
The same 味 ("smell") suffix as 班味. What people are naming is specific: sentences that all have the same shape, feelings described rather than felt, and an agreeableness that never risks anything — a by-product of how these models are trained and constrained. Chinese writing about it reaches for the same image as 预制: reheated, identical, technically fine.
Related slang
The worn-down, drained look a job stamps onto you — dead eyes, no spark, the 'office vibe' you can't wash off after months of clocking in.
Vague, soothing but empty emotional writing — gentle "healing" copy that sounds nice and says nothing.
A prefix meaning "pre-fabricated, mass-produced", used as criticism — 预制朋友圈 is a social post that feels canned and generic.
Calling someone a bot — mechanical, inflexible, no warmth in how they respond. This is an insult, not gentle teasing; it stings in a way the English "NPC" often does not.
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