I have come to realise that most people just don't seem to care about authenticity much these days - well nowhere near as much as they care about ego anyway and yes, I feel very much the same way that you do on this topic.

You know what I have been doing with my time and my art over the last few years, so I am acutely aware of the cheapening effect AI has had on that particular "art space" - not to mention that it is now possible for everyone to be an "insta-artist", lol.

Do I believe that everyone has a creative inside them? yes, I do. But precisely as you have said - you don't get to colour in some lines, or punch in a few prompts and call yourself an artist. Seriously, this world and it's people are so fncked in the head. There is just no limit to the delusions of the ego these days lol - not to mention the fuel which monetary greed adds to that equation.