Fuck AI

I can guarantee you can buy art for less than food if you really want to.

But your problem isn't with elitism, it's with capitalism that prevented you from learning a basic human skill.

Who exactly do you think is selling commissions? It's not the wealthy conspiring to keep down the working man, it is the working man. It's starving artists who are one bad life event away from financial ruin. If you want art and can't afford $50 (sometimes much less), then maybe go without it. You don't exactly need it to live.

Art should ~~not~~ be enjoyed by everyone, not just the wealthy, but devaluing the skilled labour and creativity of artists isn't how we get to that. My beef with generative AI isn't just the impacts on artists, but also the fact that these systems are reinforcing the same upwards flow of wealth to the ultra-rich. That is to say that AI enriches those who are profiting from depriving many of basic enrichment.

Whilst I disagree with the sentiment of your comment, I appreciate your acknowledgement of access to art as "basic enrichment". That much we can agree on.

Edit: struck through a mistake

Survival takes priority over enrichment. There's nothing elitist about survival.