What if AI is the first step toward a world without artificial limitations?

People are losing their minds over AI-generated Ghibli style art, posting the same tired meme: "Miyazaki would be disgusted!!1!" or "Artists spent decades mastering this, and now AI makes it for free??" as if that's some kind of moral crime. But let's be real, what they're actually mad about isn't AI art, it's the idea that AI is breaking the rules of scarcity.

For years, we've been told that things like high level art, knowledge, and even basic necessities are locked behind effort, skill, and most importantly, money. You want food? Pay for it. You want a house? Work your whole life. You want Ghibli-style art? Better dedicate decades or pay an artist.

AI is breaking that system in ways people can't even process yet. If a machine can generate anything: art, music, code, knowledge, even physical labor, then what happens to the idea that you have to "earn" things? People always say, "We can imagine the end of the world, but we can't imagine the end of post-scarcity". Well, AI is forcing us to imagine it.

And to those who are saying "AI art is just an imitation" is like saying "Photography is just an imitation of painting" or "Digital art isn’t real because it doesn’t use paint." But did photography replace painting? No. Did digital art kill traditional art? No. It just made creativity more accessible to more people.

And even if AI is an imitation, so what? If a machine can create something that evokes the same emotions, fulfills the same purpose, and looks just as good, why does it matter? Are we consuming art or the artist?

So no, I don't think AI 'stealing' art is the issue. The issue is that AI is showing us a world where everything is accessible, everything is shared, and nothing is private anymore. And people aren't ready for that conversation.