I used to make digital fantasy art, precisely in the style most copied by AI. Sure it could be a tool but also has rendered something I did manually for days on end being worthless. Now people start to make music even stealing other voices and likeness without permission cos there is no regulation. Can it be a tool? Yes, is is "abused" in detriment of artists (training with out art and styles even to our names) also true. And sad to sound bitter, but I was already a struggling artist trying to make ends meet. To pretend it has not hurt us so prople can enjoy it is being oblivious. Not judging people that use, might even myself, that does not change it us rendeting us fantasy artists jobless... Son videographers and musicians too, dunno then. Do i believe I make something special. By all means but I cannot compete with a machine that can copy my work and render it (fairly well) in ten seconds. Progress never goes back, people were rarely caring about us anyway... But I believe that affirmation is untrue fir those mist directly affected by the first wave.
Discussion
I think about this a lot!
A while ago I heard a coder talking AI increasing his productivity, but that the only reason he could make good use of it was that he already knew his field so well.
It's an appealing idea, but I don't know how it would work in the arts.
It has taken a big toll on us. But more in the way people has desensitized to art and what efforts takes to create it humanly. If you were given cakes and bread everyday free would you go to the nakery? But we must accept it rather than mourning. We shall have to adapt. But what is true is that even if we accept progress is progress and it is a tool there should be some ethical boundaries. Some people even steal singer voives to make fake covers, or artists likeness to make nsfw work. Or midels to mimic the style if one particular illustrator. We do know it us wrong, le us not pretend there are no issues. And most of them of misuse