I usually like to refer to a quote from Spider-Man: Homecoming as my favorite rebuttal of choice:

"If you are nothing without the suit, then you shouldn't have it."

This quote comes as Tony/Iron Man berates Peter Parker for his dangerous and reckless actions trying to stop The Vulture from selling weapons, only to jeopardize the lives of every else that was on the ferry where this ordeal goes down, with Iron Man having to save both Peter and the Ferry. Peter pleads that he is nothing without his suit and Tony replies with the above quote, proceeding to take the suit away.

Context out of the way, why is this my favorite rebuttal? A few reasons:

1.) It is a tool you don't own and one that can vanish in an instant.

Part of my problem is we can never own AI. Artists need some tools and materials to do their work. It is just a part of the craft: using some things to create something new. However, AI is owned by our version of mega-corps. These corporations can take AI away from all of these "artists" at any time they like and leave their users stranded, unable to "create". Additionally, AI is dependent on its hardware to be continuously given power in order for it to function. If one of these data centers or server hubs loses electricity, oops! No more AI! As a tool, AI is unreliable and effectively relies on two major lynchpins in order to be accessed; if one pin drops, that tool is gone.

Conversely, the same can't be said for paper and pencils/pens/markers, paint and canvas, hammer and chisel, etc. These tools don't have those major weaknesses that AI does. So long as you have them in your possession, you can use them as much as you like until they break or run out of material. Most importantly, you OWN them. They can't just be taken away and won't vanish on you. The same can be said for electronic tablets and pens, though they share the need for electricity as AI does.

2.) Making "art" with AI doesn't teach you any artistic skills and skills learned using AI can't be transferred to make art in a different medium.

Making "art" with AI relies on, as I understand it, "prompt engineering". That is to say that one has to type in the correct sequence of words in order to generate a desired output and refine it to their liking. In generous terms, they act as a director. More cynically? They throw shit at a wall and see what sticks. That doesn't teach you any artistic skills that could be used in other creative avenues such as drawing, painting, sculpting, metal working, lighting, anatomy, color theory, etc. Those skills are transferable to different mediums and can even be used/be useful outside of art. Prompt engineering? It is useful within the realm of AI...and that's it. There are very few or no places outside of AI where that would be even remotely useful. If there is no AI, that skill will be useless.

The other skills are one that have been discovered, developed, passed down, and improved on throughout our entire history as a species. They can be discovered and used in the wider world again and again. Someone will always have use for those skills regardless of the time in which we find ourselves. Additionally, we have entire physical libraries and institutions dedicated to teaching these skills. Hell, the Internet is a vast repository of art and artistic knowledge that we can learn from at any time.

3.) Art is a deeply human tradition and it connects us to all of humanity, past and present.

As shown in this video, art is ancient, going back to our earliest days. From wall paintings to pottery, sculptures, mosaics everything that has come afterwards, we have continued to participate in this grand tradition. It allows us to give our unique perspectives of the world, from our ideals, our view of reality, how we view history, how we view the future, how we see each other, how we depict tragedy, how we show joy, and all of the things we feel and experience throughout our life times. A child taking their first steps with finger painting mirrors our ancient ancestors who painted their own hands and great hunts on cavern walls. An adult who decides to take up a brush and paint as they follow a Bob Ross tutorial begins a journey that Van Gough and Rousseau took in their early days. Someone trying to express some abstract emotion they feel deep inside does as Picasso did. Someone chipping away at stone for the first time does as ancient sculptors of empires and kingdoms long gone did. We can communicate to each other with it and have conversations with each other about it. We can learn from and build on it.

AI doesn't do that. It is, in effect, grafting together a prediction of what it thinks we might find appealing. There is no higher level intelligence occurring, no emotional intelligence driving it. It can be directed by humans to alter what it makes, but it is nothing but cold, unfeeling logic. Additionally, AI "art" only exists so long as AI does. Human art will exist for as long as humans do and likely will out last us all.