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Prototypes are worse than pointless, they give the motivated and ignorant the belief that work has been done, that things exist. Write a sentence that describes what's wanted. Start it for real, iterate, test, test against goals and deliver, repeat.

They are tools for thinking if after the prototype you sit and write down what you learned in the form of specifications. But most of the time people use them as a first iteration of the product, and having something tangible gives them the false impression they have the product figured out.

No, they eliminate alternatives that haven't been thought of. Unless you're talking about paper prototypes, then they're always useful especially for usability.

Paper prototypes are not always useful, I'd say. They are nice for quickly evaluating ideas for UI structures. For evaluating e.g., acceptable latency of a UI, one would want to build a high-fidelity prototype. (BTW: It seems like everyone here is equating "prototype" to "app with user interface").

A problem you are rightfully mentioning IMHO is that UI prototypes usually look more finished than they are, which may mislead users/stakeholders - and maybe subconsciously also developers. Stakeholders may underestimate the time needed for completion, and users might be less willing to criticize →

I am trying out this approach in real for my projects now. Previously, the feedback loops with my stakeholders were large and now with PoC becoming disposable, I can quickly show around what I aim to achieve with my project and then iteratively proceed towards the final design.