Assuming a situation in which ML is less problematic, I can imagine ML as an useful tool for knocking out 70% of work quickly so an artist can really push on the remaining 30%.

But it's not being sold that way, "AI artists" are sure what ML kicks out is 100% finished. The same way they don't acknowledge what they have is an intermediate step, they are not interested in the obviously unfinished, they want a full color painting NOW. On the personal level, I think the idea that you want THIS tool to do EVERYTHING really feels one-true-way-ish, the adapt or die rhetoric doesn't help here.

This also contrasts a thing you notice about artists, which is wanting to work on stuff just a little more... and a little more. In an age of clearly fantastic digital tools, there are tons of people who WANT to work in traditional media (can't speak for everyone but for me using traditional media winds up being convenient in ways opposite to what we're told!). The love for process reflects into WANTING stuff like that.

This feels like another example of "our thought patterns work completely differently" and it doesn't even have to be a bad thing. I think it's just having differences which always existed between people, more obviously and uncomfortably lampshaded?