PetaPixel put this out today. I think it very clearly shows the process at least in Ps Beta. I do not see any skills presented in this other than the basic skill to write and spell ( hm there we are with spell check again, eh?) Other than the initial photo chosen by the artist everything else has been decided by a machine.
To the argument that AI is just another mentor in our lives, I would suggest that going to a museum or studying work online is more beneficial. When I am studying another artist my eyes, and my mind are taking in what I see and transforming them based on my own experiences, tastes, and skills to form a work of my own making. Looking at renderings from AI I am only making a choice on something someone else, a machine has created. It, not I am the creator. Where is the thought process? I can go into a store and tell the person behind the counter I would like a tube of toothpaste that doesn’t mean I created that toothpaste.
I agreed with everything but the last paragraph you wrote Phill. Even if AI allowed us in the future to specifically select the photos that would go into what we are working on, It, not us would still be creating the toothpaste. I could see asking for a car say and AI going through our library to show us all the cars there. ( It can do that now I believe ) If then we select the car and proceed from there to make a work …………. well that is, I think different.