I look at these works of art created by artificial intelligence and I think: yes, it’s beautiful, yes, it’s good, but… What’s the point? Where’s the story, where’s the work, if everything is so simple, then what’s the point? It’s no better than a store where you come and buy, although no, you come, take everything you need for free and leave. I don’t see any value in it, it’s just boring.
There is a limit, of course. If someone paints a huge mural with a single hair brush, it doesn’t automatically make it better than a 2-minute sketch by a master. Aesthetics are huge, and so is creativity.
The effort involved is also sometimes behind-the-scenes: for the 2min sketch, the master prepared by honing their art for thousands of hours.
I agree with you that AI images often lack aesthetics, and i believe they necessarily lack creativity. Prompts can be inventive, but not creative - when you write a clever prompt, the result is still a surprise to the user. Creativity is the realization of an inner vision unique to the artist.
But i still think the effort is important to the value of the piece. If Michaelangelo had a scanner and a 3d printer, he could have produced a plastic David in a couple of days. I don’t believe, though, that the detail he achieved would be as impressive if it weren’t cut from a chunk of stone.