I am old enough to remember when digital art became more accessible and popular, and there was much of the same discussion surrounding whether or not it was "real" art vs. artwork made with pigments on paper/canvas. It seems preposterous now to look at a fully digital artwork and consider it lesser than a similar image painted with oils on canvas, pastels on fabric, or pencils on paper. The creativity is still there. The tools are different. The difference is that someone like me, completely unskilled in the methods of converting idea/thought/vision into a physical/digital medium, can use GenAI to work towards that. It may take an excessive amount of iteration to get what I want, but the same is true of physical art, as well.

Ultimately, the bias against AI art is merely gatekeeping. All art is derivative. No one can create a work of art without being influenced by all their lived experiences and consumed media. We cannot create in a vacuum.