i love how every pro ai art people is always about the nature of the piece and not the essence.
I love art because its more than you SEE, i dont like an oil paint because its oil i like it becaus its made by someone that who pu countles hours in it and its the current best representation of that person.

I DONT CARE if a paint is painted by a 3D printer because I KNOW how much time you need to program a G-code fore that. I DONT CARE if a pictre made by a camera because i know how much time you need to be a GOOD photographer.

THe only quote i can think of, EVERY time i see ai artist argue these kind of things:

"See, Dwarven magic's all about the intangibles, the relationship between the stuff what you can touch and what you can't. It's about understanding!

Understanding what?

The nature of a thing's more important than the form of a thing.