The point that there’s effort involved in verification is an important one and definitely part of any thorough inventory of liabilities and advantages of LLMs.

I am less convinced this means it’s always a wash (or worse). Sometimes it’s good to have something to start with. “You can’t edit a blank page” is a truism among fiction and non-fiction writers of all stripes for a reason. Of course, the quality of what you start with matters, and it matters more the less of an evaluatory mindset you come to your tools with. I know at least some earlier adopters have that mindset, but perhaps I’m too optimistic about how it generalizes.