The idea that artists can be automated away is really just kind of dumb, not because people like AI created art and can get it cheap, but because it has no real impact on the "whole point" of the art... for the creation of the art. Pure art, as human expression, has no dependency on money. Anecdotally I very much enjoy painting and music (and coding) as art forms but have never sold a painting nor a song in my life. Just because someone won't pay you for something doesn't mean it has no value.
As far as money goes... long run artists will still make money fine as people will value the people generated (artisanal) works. Just as people like hand-made stuff today, even though you can get machine-made stuff way cheaper. You may not have the generic jobs of cranking out stuff for advertisements (and such) but you'll still have artists.
I follow plenty of artists on Elon's hellsite and professional artists of all stripes are upset about it. Jobs are already disappearing, being replaced entirely by AI and "prompt engineers" or people just using AI to copy someone's style for their portfolio. Granted, it isn't endemic yet, but the big Indiana Jones stone ball of progress is definitely rolling in that direction.
That is not what the post I was responding to was about, it was about the art as human expression. Nothing was said about it as a profession and making money creating art makes zero difference as to the worth of the art.
As far as money goes... long run artists will still make money fine as people will value the people generated (artisanal) works. Just as people like hand-made stuff today, even though you can get machine-made stuff way cheaper. You may not have the generic jobs of cranking out stuff for advertisements (and such) but you'll still have artists.