At some point it's hard to ignore the reality of it. Freelance artists flake on you constantly, take months longer to deliver than agreed, bail on the job they agreed to, and try to change the payment agreed on in the contract if they get popular while doing other work on the side.
I have worked with more than ten different freelance artists at this point, for non video game projects, and not a single one of them have met the bare minimum of professional standards. I don't like how the AI is being trained, on works that the artists have not given permission for, and I don't particularly like how the results look. Hell, I don't like how AI art is inevitably going to warp our understanding of art as a whole. But I also don't begrudge anyone for giving up on the nightmarish process of working with freelance/comission artists. I have literally nothing positive to say about that group of people.
I won't do it myself but if your project can't afford a professional artist, and most hobby projects can't, then I don't blame you for using a method that is reliable, even if severely sub-par. Reliability is a whole lot more important than quality when the survival of your 10k+ hour project is on the line.
PS: This is not a knock on real artists. I have incredible respect for the professionals and it is nothing but a joy to work with them.