Ai ain't gonna perform at level of top front end designer but you will get you halfway at significantly less cost.

It’ll get you a generic template you could’ve gotten from any website builder out there with roughly the same amount of effort. That is not “halfway” in the slightest. That’s getting your foot on the door. Quite literally the absolute bare minimum.

Exactly, it will do a decent job with designs using an established component library or design system. For most/many sites and web apps it will be better and faster than trying to design from scratch. There will continue to be a place for highly custom, unique designs but most smaller sites don't need to start there.

AI is a floor raiser, not a ceiling raiser