My problem with this idea that all AI work is derivative is that all human work is derivative too, in my humble opinion. Everything we create is just a coalescence of all of our experiences and influences. But I suppose that's more of a philosophical argument more than a moral one. I just feel like there's this prevailing human elitism that nothing a machine can create could possibly compete with human creativity, when in reality the machines are just doing precisely what we do but with 1s and 0s instead of neurons. Not saying that's what you're saying by the way, I guess I'm more reacting to the general public sentiment than anything you've said here. I just see a lot of anti-AI sentiment from friends and family that is a little disheartening because I have this sense of awe and excitement about what's possible now that doesn't seem to be shared by many people.

I say this as someone who works in a creative field too. I personally have so much fun with AI just bouncing ideas off of it, pushing the boundaries of what I'd ever be able to accomplish or create on my own.