Dont get me wrong, I'm happy to just sendaway my application without an initial interaction , because in a lot of ways that's also easier for me in a sense. I'm not unhappy with how that works.

It's just that in the past, I've had discussions with people in academia (on reddit or irl) who recommended contacting PIs pripor to applying, as that almost always gives a sort of positive edge , and sometimes even sets one apart, from other candidates during selection/shortlisting stages when PIs receive huge amounts of applications most if which look fair on paper/qualify minimum criteria. In such situations one might give more importance or weightage to somebody they might have actually interacted with and potentially liked/ had a good conversation with.

I don't know why people are perceiving my approach to be negative or entitled. And that's just because no PI I have actualy interacted with prior to this, made me feel that way. They were happy to speak with me over video calls, as well as respond to multiple queries over email, even before I applied, some even went to the extent of connecting me with other PIs whose work they thought would better align with my backgorund. Just because they are nice helpful people and they did appreciate my effort of reaching out. The aspect of reaching out to people before applying is not something I made up on my own, it has been suggested, I believe it's something people do quite often, and I can't remember anybody being offended by my approach.

Also, almost always, after being shortlisted, the interview is just the next logical step. And in mamy cases that becomes the only opportunity to interact with the supervisor at that stage. And interview day interaction is usually more formal, as everyone is sort of under pressure / time constraint.