The difference is scale. I don't know how many times people need to say this, but LLM tools enable people to spam low quality code at a rate that is far faster than ever.
There's been multiple stories and posts here on HN about issues with AI generated PRs for open source repos because of people using them to game numbers or clout. This is a similar problem where you have a bunch of people using your API and then effectively trying to use you for free engineering work.
Totally agree the difference is in the scaling properties.
On the other hand, I look around the room I am in and it is filled mostly with "low quality" Chinese made products. While you can't compare these products to expensive, expertly crafted, high end products, there is another scaling law at play when it comes to price. The low quality Chinese products are so cheap that I don't even consider the more expensive options. When the low quality desk lamp is close enough and 20x cheaper than the well made desk lamp, there is no decision point for me.
There's been multiple stories and posts here on HN about issues with AI generated PRs for open source repos because of people using them to game numbers or clout. This is a similar problem where you have a bunch of people using your API and then effectively trying to use you for free engineering work.