At most, the pixel selection algorithm is a cheap replacement for human labor, which will be used by corporations to generate what they need. That's the John Henry analogue. If the common artist starts using it, they're not an artist anymore. They're a consumer of the "AI" company.
The former artist can't expect to make a living generating images, because we all know generated images are worthless. So they'll either do something else (like work in the factories as the currently dominant U.S. political party wants) or become a prompt engineer for the corporation's images.
If you don't fight it, you lose. That's the one aspect that is true of every fight.