Once I was an editorial illustrator, and the mantra always was "concept is king". Stick figures are kosher so long as they communicate something.
Impressionists emerged following the invention of the camera, as they had no more incentive to pursue realism. I think in the age of AI slop any form of crude image making is better so long as it's human. Scribble something out with crayons. Shape an animal out of a slice of bread, post a pic. It's all legit now, technical art abilities mean nothing. To impress you actually have to have a good idea.
This is actually reflected even in the AI slop. Most pictures look broadly appealing and correct, but very generic. So to draw a crowd it has to stand out some other way - be it the lighting, the colors, the materials, the framing, the poses, the setting, or whatever else. They really made me reevaluate what is it that I'm actually looking for and how much I value each of these aspects.
Impressionists emerged following the invention of the camera, as they had no more incentive to pursue realism. I think in the age of AI slop any form of crude image making is better so long as it's human. Scribble something out with crayons. Shape an animal out of a slice of bread, post a pic. It's all legit now, technical art abilities mean nothing. To impress you actually have to have a good idea.