Yes, the experience here on HN, like any open software forum has been watered down for a long while now. Before you could respect even quite simple projects since good time was at least spent implementing them. Nowadays? Not so much.

I will respond, because I think I have a leg in both worlds.

It is a little scary as it will likely drown new releases on steam/itch ( I think it already has ). Otoh, good stuff is still good stuff and now there is little to no excuse to not look for something better if what you find fails.

My personal major project for 2027 as a result is proper 'tagging' system that can withstand typical human tendencies and interference. Tall order, but I can already see it will be needed.

I am optimistic, because even if the above fails, I can just keep adding fun little tools for myself and they are exactly what I want them to be without having to align myself to somebody else's idea of what useful is.

If anything, it adds meaning -- but there is a trade-off.

Signal-and-value collapse. These apps are not a signal that you are good at anything -- and therefore you cannot derive social or economic value from them. It literally means you are bored and had $5, about as meaningful as buying a Chalupa.

Even if you did it by hand -- the noise would crowd out your work.

Yet look at the ones that gain traction. In general, LLM-created content is unpopular, even on HN. However, using LLMs to aggregate, visualize, and synthesize content is popular. Likewise, when those types of functions are done against HN itself, like the last few days, it go to the top of the site.

Which tells me that people still highly value a personal connection to anything online. It also tells me that people don't want original content from AI - they want original perspectives on existing content.