I haven't seen that idea (artists being morally bankrupt), like you I'd strongly disagree. I also agree it's a shitty situation that artists invested hundreds of hours of their own time to create something only to be repackaged and sold by some AI tool.
That said, I'd still make the same point that people who value art and the artist will buy from and support the artist. Those that don't value it, won't. But now we're on a larger scale.
>That said, I'd still make the same point that people who value art and the artist will buy from and support the artist.
The chances anyone will come across the artist when their marketplace is flooded with increasingly plausible simulacra become more and more slim as time goes on.
AI is choking off any hope for artists supported by patronage, simply by virtue of discoverability being lost and trust being eroded.
That said, I'd still make the same point that people who value art and the artist will buy from and support the artist. Those that don't value it, won't. But now we're on a larger scale.