> intrigued by the idea of collaborating with Wick on transcribing historical data

Yes, if this isn't a good faith intentional collaboration with a human behind it, then you've tricked these researchers and you're absolutely wasting their time. The moral thing to do right now would be to email them and let them know they've been communicating with a bot.

Have you been forthcoming that your email was AI-generated?

If you have, then I'd say no. They know what it's about and what to expect. If you haven't, then yes, it's a waste of their time.

It sounds like yes, you've already wasted their time, and you will waste more of it when they try to analyze the slop you send over the wall at them.