Not the OP but I’ll put my PoV.

AI allows to cut junior and entry level artists. Companies only need to retain top 1% talent orchestrating hordes of AI.

While it is still a craft, commercial art is not about being genuine; it is to deliver product and meeting deadline while passing QA. AI’s output rate outpaces human labor, and the top 1% can certainly identify what aspect makes AI output slop. Which means they can cherry pick “OK” part of AI, review, iterate, tweak to deliver product while keeping quality. The process previously involved comunication between senior and junior artits. Now companies don’t need the rest of the 99% anymore as workforce.

What will happen in the long run? Who knows. Companies are known for only keen on immediate profit.

This tendency is widespread and not limited to art field, nor related to the argument of intrinsic value of art. I can argue this is more of labor (and capitalism) issue, on top of people whose art stolen not getting enough compensation for their work. While I’m not against AI technology itself, its effect on peoples livelihood and climate impact makes current AI landscape hard to defend.

FYI, that was reported in Jp news flash and the source is internal govt, it maybe not credible enough to publish globaly

Japan govt has already asked their motor US subsidiaries to export their goods back to Japan. Its much more easier for them to make Jp specific modification compared to US-origin manufacturers.