Not exactly what I had in mind. I was thinking they could use engagement as feedback to the AI so that it starts producing more engagement-bait type content.

actually state of the art models do this all of the time, for example model distillation

Agreed. I would imagine they are looking for new revenue streams because it feels like just running an LLM costs more than the derived value. Right now investors are pouring money into AI by the swimming pool full in the belief that a renaissance is right around the corner. But the view from the ground is that the value is never going to return that investment without getting creative.

And when companies get creative rather than rely on fundamentals that drive sustainable growth, it's generally a steep slope to enshittification.