I’m unclear what percentage is bots and what is oblivious people with nothing useful to add but a compulsion to contribute anyway.

I’m convinced (without evidence) that the bots who have wholesale taken over that aren’t just copying and pasting are LLMs instructed to respond “in the sarcastic tone of a redditor”.

With bots being the majority, any actual human who enters the conversation either emulates that style to fit in, or to seek the upvotes/approval of everyone else who gets it for responding in that way.

The LLMs then train off this new, more toxic engagement going forward, creating an Ouroboros-esque race to the bottom