A user argues that AI is undermining cold email, reporting about 75 inquiries for fall 2027 PhD admissions as of September 13, 2026. They say PhD inquiries are just one of 10–15 categories of unsolicited email they receive, and they can no longer open every message. Their concern is about access, not just an overflowing inbox. Growing up in India with few connections to prominent researchers, they say cold emails helped them get where they are today. They argue that relying on introductions instead means losing some of the internet’s egalitarian potential.