Hi,
I know LLMs and machine learning catch a bad rap in leftist circles (for good reason), but I think if you haven't already considered at a content moderation 'pre-filter' of some sort, it could hugely amplify your ability to manage the forum as a (relatively) small mod-team.
I have attached a URL with an example of an approach which could be trialed in moderation flows (e.g., if likelihood post is harmful > high threshold, put into moderation queue for manual approval). But if there's an easy way to grab, e.g., a structured bulk of messages over the last couple of years with an associated 'moderation action on post' column you could also likely build a 'likelihood messages would have had moderator action based on recent empirical moderation' for a more bespoke tool. Further, you could tune this threshold such that the moderation post queue was always manageable, just raising the threshold until it hits a manageable number of (hopefully) the most toxic messages.
But, yeah, anyway... I have experience as an ML researcher and now work in the space professionally, and would be happy to discuss, guide, or develop if there is any interest.
As somebody who isn't very active socially online, and has mainly lurked since the OLD chapo days, totally understand if there's reluctance. I'm happy to talk through options that could give you confidence I'm not a wrecker if this is an issue.
If this comm is the wrong place for this but there may be interest, feel free to direct me elsewhere or to DM me.
What reengages my empathy muscle is remembering that lots of these people are fucking miserable, even if they lack the introspection to appreciate it. Imagine being a fucking evangelical conservative housewife for instance - no real agency or support or avenue to grow. Even imagine yourself as an evangelical conservative bread-winning husband - no real avenue for self expression or discovery, and you harm the people around you constantly without a framework to understand that.
Even when you look at fascist states like Israel, how fucking tragic for all of those indoctrinated people that their worldview is as narrow and corrupted as it is, and, honestly, most of those people didn't have a hope in hell. Fucking cooked because they happened to be born in a fascist state.
Whenever I go down this line of thinking, I always end up feeling that it's just so... sadly rational that so many awful people are full of that weird impotent rage.
NB: I am also definitely not saying that I'm some saint who can always keep this thinking, it is truly advice on framing that makes me personally hate people less when I have the energy for it.