[starmftronajoll]

Perhaps the resolution to your cognitive dissonance is not to conclude that artists hate art. Instead I’d suggest that often, artists’ love of art doesn’t stem from concepts like “annihilating what came before” or “outcompeting hard.” Perhaps, like the parent comment said, it comes from self-expression — the pleasure, for both creator and audience, of the “mirage created by the writer,” to borrow your poetic term.

[bravura]

“Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it” – Bertolt Brecht.

I'm neither dissenting with your or OP here, FYI.

Mediocre artists will just copy what exists more easily.

And powerful artists will have new tools to shape reality.

[renewiltord]

There is some competitive notion, for certain, since there is a lot of pushback on AI-generated art from artists.

[JakeAl]

"ars gratia artis" is something AI is not capable of.