AI has spoiled the biggest hobbyist spaces on the Internet

I got an internet connection when I was but a child, and it instilled in me a life-long love of dicking around online without worrying about profit or professional development. Hell, I even met my husband as a teenager on a video game forum. Unfortunately, in just a few short years since the mass proliferation of genAI, the hobbyist internet has sustained massive damage, and in some instances has been forced entirely underground.

We talk a lot about the mass proliferation of AI models in media, and it’s easy to do so when corporations keep using the technology to generate horrible Christmas commercials, openings for Marvel shows on Disney Plus, and so many sequences in video games. It’s become a weekly controversy to hear that some developer has dabbled in AI, while executives push the product as a “solution” for ballooning studio size, and the wages required for such an operation. 

But we don’t talk as much about the effect that Large Language Models and generative AI have had on the simple joy of normal hobbies. Like an oil spill, these groups are being relentlessly poisoned by the mass proliferation of low-quality slop from generative AI models, out-competing the human experts with volume, and mimicking whatever goes viral regardless of context or quality. These LLMs feel like they’re devouring the entire Internet, showing up in every algorithm and offering cheap, easy dopamine with no need to think or process. 

This process is playing out everywhere, in every community: crafting, food prep, sci-fi and fantasy, poetry, fashion, interior design ... I’ve heard similar stories from dozens of friends, and while there are differences reflecting the complexities of each circle, the broad steps of dysfunction are the same. As a case study, I’m going to use one of my stupidest, most low-stakes hobby: reading trashy relationship advice stories.

Step 1: Something is Good

As advice columnists and forums fell out of favor, larger communities like the popular subreddit /r/AmITheAsshole became a popular source for someone with troubles. The subreddit, which has three million members, is described as: “A catharsis for the frustrated moral philosopher in all of us, and a place to finally find out if you were wrong in an argument that's been bothering you.” There are a dozen similarly large subreddits, each with slightly different focuses.

A lot of these stories are dramatic and interesting. Some of them are just great, like the tale of Jean and Jorts. I’m invested in stories about weird dating dynamics, workplace advice, family drama, interesting legal questions (especially when a tree is involved), and the occasional curveball. Even before AI, writers would submit fake stories, a matter of much debate. Personally, my rule of thumb is that I don’t care if the story is real as long as it’s well-written. Other people assume everything is fake, and enjoy it like a soap opera.