There are people NOW who use and appreciate it. There are also people who speak for others. I voted you up because you actually put thought into a response, not that the response is a good argument. Some of it is your opinion, and that's yours alone and not for anyone to judge. The rest of it is more focused on others and their actions, before your own. That I can attack, and do so gleefully.

I've been using LLMs for 5 years, sorry, 6 years (sigh). GPT-2 was a dumbass, but I still managed to get it to do primitive function calls - in 2020. I'm not slowing down. I'm increasing speed. It's 2026. Some of you are going to be obsoleted into oblivion if you don't start moving. I estimate I'm at least worth $600K a year now, probably a lot more. And, I don't have a masters. My dad did, and half a Phd, but I digress. I'm not him. Instead of working for the man, I'm doing my own thing, yet again. It is possible for one person to build an empire. I'm going to do it. Not ego. Intent.

The thing you describe here, about it being depressing, is a logical fallacy. I'm not even looking at an AI or Wikipedia. I don't know the proper name for it, but it's a fallacy based on thinking that others bring you value. You clearly have value, you said it yourself and said it well. If anyone sits around and let others define or tell them their value, they are a dumbass.

I've started using "get a horse!" as a shorthand meme for what you are feeling right now, maybe. I'm not here to speak for you or how you manage your emotions. I'm just pointing out the flaws in your thinking. This is what people on horses shouted at people driving the first cars. (the horse thing, although they probably thought driving a car was flawed thinking)

Find your passion and then build it.