My own opinion, which is admittedly too harsh, is that they don't really know what they want to say. That is, the prompt they write is very short, along the lines of `ask when this will be done` or `schedule a followup`, and give the LLM output a cursory review before copy-pasting it.

I definitely see where you're coming from, though I have a slightly different perspective.

I agree that LLMs often fall short when it comes to capturing the nuanced reasoning behind implementations—and when used in an autopilot fashion, things can easily go off the rails. Documentation isn't just about what is said, but also what’s not said, and that kind of judgment is something LLMs do struggle with.

That said, when there's sufficient context and structure, I think LLMs can still provide a solid starting point. It’s not about replacing careful documentation but about lowering the barrier to getting something down—especially in environments where documentation tends to be neglected.

In my experience, that neglect can stem from a few things: personal preference, time pressure, or more commonly, language barriers. For non-native speakers, even when they fully understand the material, writing clear and fluent documentation can be a daunting and time-consuming task. That alone can push it to the back burner. Add in the fact that docs need to evolve alongside the code, and it becomes a compounding issue.

So yes, if someone treats LLM output as the final product and walks away, that’s a real problem. And honestly, this ties into my broader skepticism around the “vibe coding” trend—it often feels more like “fire and forget” than responsible tool usage.

But when approached thoughtfully, even a 60–90% draft from an LLM can be incredibly useful—especially in situations where the alternative is having no documentation at all. It’s not perfect, but it can help teams get unstuck and move forward with something workable.

I wonder if this is to a large degree also because when we communicate with humans, we take cues from more than just the text. The personality of the author will project into the text they write, and assuming you know this person at least a little bit, these nuances will give you extra information.