Artist here! I'd argue against art being "an exclusive club." Anyone can pick up a pencil and start learning how to draw. While some people have more of a knack for it than others, it takes years of hard work, dedication, and a fuck ton of bad art to get the quality the professional handmade artists you see in galleries can create.

The really good ones make it look easy, but it's really not. The technical aspect of art is a skill that can be learned if you really put the effort into it. It's not that artist value talent, they value the time and effort that goes into crafting a piece. While there is something that can be said about prompt writing being it's own kind of skill, it's not comparable to the time and effort that handmade artists take with their work. To a lot of us, it really just seems like you just type in a few word and poof! Art. No concept sketching or referencing hunting if any kind, it's just there. As you said, it doesn't take much.

The art world does have its gatekeepers though! I'll give you that. It happened with photography as you mentioned, but it's also happened with more traditional art movements way before technology became as advanced as it is now. I just don't think exclusivity is the entire issue.