Laying it on thick I have noted a sharp increase in the volume of email that is clearly the result of an AI prompt of this form:
Find 500 people —
writers, bloggers, YouTubers, etc. — to whom I should promote my new project [which was probably also generated with AI]. Write a customized email for each one and send it to them, using my email account.
Some of these projects are quasi-commercial (a new web app, a new publication, etc.); others appear to be creative hobbies.
The form is subtler than a one-size-fits-all promo blast, but it sucks way worse, because it’s fundamentally dishonest. These emails go out of their way to connect the promoted project to the recipient’s own work, often reaching for deep cuts. They are cousins to the recent genre of AI spam inviting authors to submit their books to vast (nonexistent) book clubs; these invitations operate by first complimenting the subtle contours of the the author’s work —
I don’t understand how anyone could think it’s okay to run the prompt above. I am here to tell you: it’s not okay! Besides being plainly rude and dishonest, these messages “pee in the pool” of internet communication, making it more difficult for sincere creators to send authentic emails about their projects, simply by raising the “noise floor” of simulation and bullshit.
Cold emails are totally fine —