My LI feed is almost entirely AI slop at this point. I have second-hand embarrassment for all the people who are obliviously broadcasting "thought leadership" that is transparently the work of AI to their entire networks.
I consistently have better results with Codex for the work that I do. People have been saying that for six months, but until 5.4 the experience was sufficiently slower that it wasn't worth the switch. Making the switch was frictionless. Give it a try
Some of the most complex problems I've ever solved were solved when I was mowing my own lawn with a push mower. Just in a trance. Many of the best life decisions I've ever made were when I was on a walk, thinking things through.
There is a difference between the "smart" thing to do and what's considered to be the right opinion by "smart" people. Lobotomies were endorsed by elite medical opinion (Moniz won a Nobel for it in 1949). Smart-person consensus often doesn't survive contact with reality. Smart people are as susceptible to groupthink, moral panics, and manias as anybody else.