An artist wakes up wanting to do the art. They love it. They want to do it over & over again, getting better at it. If they have talent, getting better happens faster, but the work put in either way means they cared about the art. They think about it even when not doing it. It is part of their soul.
A former exec from my publisher (who once called me “the most important cartoonist of the last ten years,” I just wanted to share that) told me recently what’s great about my work is how much of myself I put into it. How human I make it. I put my heart and soul and tears and laughter into this.
The uncanny valley of AI is feeling how soulless it is. It hits a bad itch in the mind. You just know. Like that steak in The Fly. Looks perfect, but the copy left a bad taste. Also, I really appreciate your art. It's take the good place in the mind.
You can’t automate that. Nothing has done more to make me believe in the soul than seeing art literally made by an entity that doesn’t have one.