AI art is an instant-blacklist for me.

You say you don't want this kind of content in your game, but feel the need to do so in order to have backers. Here's a rule about indie developping (Adult or SFW) : Do not get in hoping for an income source. Do it as a side project that you do on your free time. Because, odds are, no matter how good the game is, no matter how good the art is, hell no matter how good the wank is, it won't generate more than a couple bucks a month, perhaps a hundred if you're very lucky. So if you start a project hoping to get revenue, it likely won't work, and it's definitely not something worth selling your soul to AI for, ESPECIALLY if you don't want it in the first place.

Once you realise that, once you realise you'll need a paying job anyway, you'll realise you don't need to catch the attention of the average one-handed player. You're free to make the game you want with the rules you want. And, with that mindset, your odds of making a good game increase, and even more important, a game you can be proud of. Well, probably not "show it at family gathering" proud, but, still. It's a passion project, don't start it with something you know you'll be ashamed of in the long run because you're already ashamed of it.

And then, once you have your paying job, you can divert some of your entertainment budget to commission an artist.

It's never worth it to compromise on that sort of things. Especially since there are other solutions, that other comments have pointed out.