Comment by mjr00
2 months ago
Sometimes it just hits different. One spam/marketing email I got, pre-AI, was
Subject: {Name of one of my direct reports}
Body: Need to talk about {name} ASAP.
I get around 30 marketing emails per day that make it through the spam filter; from a purely logical perspective this should have been the same as any other, but I still remember this one because the tone, the way it used only a person's name in the subject, no mention of the company or what they were selling, just really pissed me off.
I imagine it's the same in this situation; the subject makes it seem like a sincere thank you from someone, and then you open it up and it's AI slop. To borrow ChatGPT-style phrasing: it's not just spam, it's insulting.
Sure, it’s insulting. I get it. Agree 100%. But then what? Does getting upset about it help anything? I used to get upset when spam first started invading my otherwise clean inbox. After 25+ years of receiving spam, I never had that anger/annoyance result in a reduction of anything.
Yes, it embarrasses the people who think this kind of thing is a good idea and ideally generates behavioral change.