[jltsiren]

This is the norm for the industry. When there is a lot of money to be made, people will chase it by any means they can think of.

AI is a special case, as academia isn't usually that lucrative. In the rest of CS, many major conferences still have ~300 people, and interesting stuff often happens in specialized meetings with fewer than 100 participants.

[inigyou]

This is the norm for the economy. When there is money to be made, at least one person will chase it by any means they can think of.

Academia is a specific case. It happens everywhere.