What exactly am I stealing if I don't take the deal, walk away and then enjoy an AI-generated artwork that just so happens to resemble the thing closely instead? I'd think that stealing requires taking something away from someone, regardless of how hard certain industries try to gaslight me into expanding the definition to protect their business model.

Stop trying to gaslight yourself into thinking what you are doing isn't morally wrong.

If you do not agree with their business model, don't get involved with their business, at all. Your disagreement doesn't give you the right to exploit flaws in their methods to protect their business. Just like the fact you don't want to pay for something doesn't grant you the right to exploit the fact that the laws of physics allow you to just grab something you didn't pay for with your hand and run away with it.

You still equate copyright infringement with physical theft. They are not the same.

> Your disagreement doesn't give you the right

If I fully believe in the concept of fair use and transformative content, then yes it absolutely is my right to take advantage of generative AI.

Fair use is a common concept used in all sorts of media.

You don't get to hand wave that away just because generative AI is getting good.

In what sense would I be running away with something? The original thing is still there, to the extent you can talk about data being somewhere.

I don't think I need to "gaslight myself" into anything; as far as I can tell, making a copy has not ever felt morally wrong to me.