It's hard not to see his point though. For decades, people have pushed the starving artist stereotype and lowballed professionals. In general, most people don't value the time and skill investment put into art as you would more conventional skills. Now that AI's come along, many have decided they don't need an artist, they'll just generate "art." Or in some cases, an editor, copywriter, or other related skills. But the thing is, the things AI spits out isn't original content. It's content mimicking whatever it's fed. For example, how many times has someone used AI to replicate Summertime Saga's artstyle alone? Do laws protect content creators against AI media that's obviously using their signature style? Does anyone actually care to try to find out who the original artist is of a piece of art on a t-shirt or a mug or whatever before buying it? Reverse image searches won't tell you what it's copying. You do all the work, and everyone but you reaps the rewards. What's worse, someone might stumble upon your work and write it off as AI without realizing you're the original.
As an artist, how would you feel having to compete with something so soulless and prevalent that it feels like it's 80% of the image results on Google? How much has AI art and writing creeped into commercial products? How do you struggle to stay visible and relevant as a creative professional? It was hard enough before AI came along, but now what? What is the future of art now that it's even harder to make it as an artist? How many prospective artists will now give up the craft because it doesn't seem worth it anymore? The future of art is bleak, my dude.
