Creative artists don't owe each other anything? Writers don't owe each other any respect either then? or is it just disciplines outwith your own that are unimportant?
And as for the 'how little time' thing. When you pay someone to do a job you aren't buying the time they spend doing the job you're paying them for their skill. You are paying for all the time they spent learning how to do the job you are paying them to do. You pay a skilled mechanic all that money to repair your car because he's a skilled mechanic. Not some idiot with a monkey wrench. You could argue after the fact that all he did was unscrew a few nuts and put another washer in and do the nuts up again - anyone could have done that. Yes they could. But it's knowing that the washer needed replacing and by doing it now not later (and replacing something else which was looking worn while they were there... etc. ) is what you pay for and which will save you money in the end.
No, creative artists do not owe each other anything, regardless of what discipline they have. I didn't mention respect at all... but no, you can of course respect someone you admire, and there are plenty of authors and artists and sculptors that I do, but they're not owed it by default.
They are especially not owed your money if you don't want their services. You don't have to financially support creatives just because they're creatives, which is even more true if you can get similar work done by a machine for a fraction of the price. That's like saying you only buy products made by hand because Luddites don't support mechanisation.
As for the time commitment thing, it is still a valid point. You're implying that the skill of the artist is worth more than the skill of the author because they can charge a lot more for a lot less. Now, with economies of scale, the author will make a lot more, but only
if the book sells well. Paying a lot for a cover
might help drive sales up, but it might also mean the book you've just self-published could lose you money.
And yes, it's true that the reason you pay mechanics so much is that they know how to do the thing and you don't, but are you telling me that you wouldn't use some automated repair shop if such a thing was ever built? A place free from the price gouging of mechanics looking to put the screws to a clueless customer? A place that could tear down and rebuild your car faster than a mechanic could even diagnose the problem?
How about the printing press? Do you think books should be written out by hand? That used to be a job too until technology moved on and effectively ran it out of business. Was this a sad day for scribes? Certainly... but it was a good day for anyone who wanted to buy a book.
This is the exact same thing. An incredibly similar outcome for a significantly reduced cost.
There's also nothing to stop artists from incorporating this technology into their own workflow. It could help them generate ideas and sketches for clients that would give them an edge over their competition and allow them to reduce the costs to their customers, all while maintaining a similar level of income for their time.
That said, I'd put money on the majority just using it as a means to get their work done faster without passing the savings on.
Furthermore, I'm not suggesting stealing an artist's work, merely not buying it in the same way you avoid books without good covers. Why aren't you supporting that creative author? It sounds to me like you're disregarding the discipline...
But to sum up, even though future artists may not get as many customers, their potential customers shouldn't be guilted into paying for something they don't need to.
Edit: My degree is in sculpting and 3D Design, so I'm hardly unsympathetic here, but at the end of the day, the customer always has the right to seek the best deal for thesmelves.
