CGI and Photoshop filters were 'fake' too. Until they weren't.

Every single time {something more convenient} got invented, the supports of the {older, less convenient thing} would criticize it to death.

Oil painting was considered serious art now. Probably the most serious medium in traditional art schools. But at Michelangelo's time he insisted to use fresco because he believed oil was "an art for women and for leisurely and idle people like Fra Sebastiano."[0]

Forward 100 years, oil replaced tempera and fresco.

Another example: Frank Frazetta insisted he didn't use references, except he did all the time[1]. Why? We'll never know the exact reason, but it might be that using photos as references was considered 'lesser.' And now it's completely normal, even the norm.

Looking back through art history, gen-AI art seems awfully inevitable.

[0]: https://www.studiointernational.com/michelangelo-and-sebasti...

[1]: https://www.frazettagirls.com/blogs/blog/frank-frazetta-refe...