In terms of human perspective with digital tools AI’s difference of scale is a difference of kind. Photoshop fundamentally didn’t change the process and concept of producing images. It’s still a human sitting down with tools and producing art based off their ideas and rendered with their skill.

But AI removes that human process, now a string of keywords will mash up existing art to make a facsimile of something unique. AI doesn’t make anything new, it fundamentally can’t, therefore not really art. All of human culture is standing on the shoulders of historical giants, you and I can have this conversation because of someone else inventing computers, which exist because of someone utilizing electricity, which was only possible by the wheel, etc.

However I don’t think there is much to gain in criticism of an artist buying their paints from a store just as there isn’t any in artists using a mouse. Their perspective, skill and talent will produce something new, inspired by others undoubtedly, but not copy pasting brushstrokes. That’s just high level plagerism and intrinsically not unique.

I mean this is all philosophy of existentialism, what IS art and when does it become something else? The artistsy of the writers, painters and editors is what produces a compelling end multi generational international product like DND. Which is different than an end user using AI to spice up a character sheet inside the privacy of their own home.

AI is a wonderful tool, but only if the end use doesn’t really matter. My players and I don’t care about 11 fingered elves, but I’d be pissed to see that in a book I paid $50+ for. Just as I would be upset to read flavor text that recruisve of past writing or game mechanics designed by a machine incapable of actually running a session. If you are charging for a product, human artistry should be involved, anything else is free so who cares.