There is a complaint that sounds like nostalgia but usually isn’t: “it used to be better than this.” Last week we listened to paying users ask what their money still buys — a story about price, ads and upsell. This week the sum people are doing is different, and quieter. Not “what does it cost” but “what does it still do.” Across the busiest AI forums, the through-line was a felt sense that the tools they already pay for are being hollowed out from the inside: shorter answers, tighter limits, ...