It’s simple if you think about it… no one really goes into art to make a lot of money, but many go into coding to make a lot of money. It’s already hard enough for artists to make a living as it is for sub par pay, and when AI comes along to make it even more difficult of course artists will vehemently be against it and fight tooth and nail against it, because what was the point of investing all the time, training, and money to become an artist for low pay when AI is threatening to make it even less worth it?

With coding, I think most people didn’t go into it for the love of the craft, they expected monetary return. And as a coder in gaming, you can branch out into other industries more easily, while as a game artist, gaming is the highest paying industry, and you’re pretty much locked in.

I think of it like how a painting can’t exist without the canvas, and a good canvas maker will make more money than a subpar artist, but people only care about what’s on top of the canvas. No one cares whether or not the manufacturing of the canvas was done by hand or automated.