> Do people really just go around reading large blocks of random text they find on the internet hoping they'll find it interesting?

Yes. That's why I'm on substack. Good writing can be a pleasure to read even if it's about something I don't care all that much about. A summary can tell you about the subject matter, but fails to capture the quality of the writing itself.

To put it another way: I'd rather read an idlewords post about taking a Russian boat to the Antarctic[1] - something I care little about as a subject - than read AI generated slop about some Python programming subject that's immediately relevant to my career.

[1] https://idlewords.com/2016/10/cape_adare.htm