this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2026
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Someone literally copy and pasted a whole ChatGPT comment in an email reply to some questions I'd asked them. I was somewhat insulted.
You're right to feel insulted. LLMs are verbose and unreliable often enough that you have to check any work that comes out (or be negligent).
So what's usually happening is someone is saving their time by spending yours. They saved the time normally needed to write a thoughtful reply by shifting the time and cognitive cost of reading and verifying to you, with AI as an excuse (often not without condescension, which is a type of "virtue signaling" driven by c-suite AI boosting). The slop output looks like "work product," but is neither - it took no work and is a facade of a "product" because it's unverified.
They are being selfish, and it is objectively an insulting act.
Put them on a list where any and every email they send you gets fed into GPT and replied to without you ever reading it, then to make sure they know that explain what's happening in the signature.
It's only a problem if they claimed it as their own or it didn't add value, AND it wasted your time as a result.
Sometimes the experts just know how to search more effectively in their domain (which nowadays is increasingly using the right context/prompt with some AI, and formerly known as Google-Fu before google search turned to shit)
To be genuinely helpful and polite, they'll do a little legwork to respond personally and accurately... others might be super busy, or just dicks who don't respect you or your time.
Try not to be that dick yourself, though. If you are asking someone for help, show your work and provide relevant info so they don't waste their time.