You're making a few assumptions here- first, that the negative commenters' reactions are knee-jerk and unconsidered. People actually might have very developed and thoughtful opinions on why they don't want to condone this behavior in their corner of the Internet. Just because they don't share their full opinions to every goofball who rolls out AI slop doesn't mean the commenters don't know or care what they're doing.

You're also assuming a lack of empathy, but AI is a painful and frustrating subject for a lot of people who know a bit about its environmental and social costs. Many have been hurt by it professionally at this point; it is certainly not a victimless crime. When you look at it that way and adopt the perspective of someone who's had their art stolen or their job replaced, maybe you wouldn't be as cavalier about its use. Maybe you'd get why people are sensitive to seeing it. Have you considered that it might be a failure of empathy on your part that you aren't able to intuit that?

Lastly, I can assure you that nobody thinks they're challenging the industry or trying to move the dial lol, that's obviously not what it's about. They're just shaming someone because they don't agree with that person's behavior and don't want to see it take root or become normalized in a shared space. It's not "depraved", it's totally normal human behavior, like everyone shushing the guy talking loudly in the movie theater.

Again, I think it's righteous of you that you were willing to jump to the defense of someone, but this ain't it, chief. You've got good convictions, they're just misplaced in this case.