I get your frustration of a scorched internet. But I don't think it's all that gloomy. Whether we like it or not, LLMs and some kind of a "down-to-earth AI" is here to stay, once the dust settles. Right now, it feels like everything is burning because we're in the thick of an evolving situation; and the Silicon Valley tech-bros are in a hurry to ride the wave and make a quick buck with their ChatGPT wrapper. (I can't speak of social networks, I don't have any accounts for 10+ years, except for HN.)

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On "collective losing of minds", you might appreciate this quote from 1841 (!) by Charles MacKay. I quoted it in the past[1] here, but is worth re-posting:

"In reading the history of nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities; their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first [...]

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."

— from MacKay's book, 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds'

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25767454