> Whether it's using the output of AI models or downloading a book on Anna's Archive, you are ultimately robbing the creator of profits.

You're correct in the above, or at least I'm willing to accept the premise for the purposes of this argument.

However, it's not that simple when it comes to the morality of the actions since there are secondary effects.

You can't just make a blanket statement like "stealing is immoral", for example, when there are circumstances where stealing is absolutely the moral imperative (e.g. the food is held by barons who charge unaffordable prices and the populace is starving to death).

Or, to make an example closer to the topic, what about the stealing of scientific papers? There's a strong arguments to be made that millions of people have been helped through that theft. And yes, the gatekeepers of that knowledge have been harmed.

And it's like that with AA and AI (and their code) as well. People consider the secondary effects and whether or not the greatest good is served.

And, of course, "greater good" is gray.