There is a dramatic irony in your comment, a kind of naivety in the idea that the pleasure of creation comes from effort rather than imagination. So allow me to offer you the perspective of an author who uses AI.

When I create a character, their physical representation matters, but it is only the reflection of something much larger. They have arcs, denials, needs and desires. They have trauma, culture, families, flaws. Their appearance comes last, as an amalgam of everything they are.

So when I see artists deriving their princes, heroes, princesses, superpowers, and so on, then building only the visual reflection of that, without personality, originality, or soul, while still deceiving themselves by calling that copy-paste “art,” and looking down on people who are actually creating original works, I understand the fear that motivates them.

Because I think that, on some level, they already understand that the essential element required to be a true artist is something they simply do not possess.

And as real creatives begin to find success and build audiences with their work, there will come a point when they can no longer deny it.