So... what the ai does?

Because it learns what a concept looks like and that's how it will generate an image from pure static. It doesn't have images saved inside the model it has knowledge of what something looks like and how to make that from static. Essentially it knows how to draw a thing but doesn't have images of the thing saved in its data.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90649913/the-unusual-creative-process-of-the-artist-behind-the-little-mermaid-and-beauty-and-the-beast

Aphantasia prevents the generation of mental images based on knowledge of what things look like, but it does not prevent that knowledge serving as the basis for an image made with pencil and paper. Keane can draw a picture of Ariel because he knows what humans (and fish) look like, and that information—plus the skills acquired through study and practice—steers his hand accordingly.

This is the best explanation i can think of for this.

But first they saw stick figures in clouds because pareidolia

This isn't crippling. All it says is images you curate from the ai without very much user input into the creation can't be copyrighted.

There are now controlnets where you can create your own poses or take your own drawings and run them through the ai to supercharge the guiding process for the ai. Even then you can always do editing post generation to make it personal. Hell you can even train the ai on your own art and style. Just because one guy used midjourney doesn't mean that someone doing something with a more open and configurable ai can't get their works copyright. It's on a case by case basis.

People are already training image ais on their kinks... those foot fetishists and their 17 toes...

I mean not talking is the smart move

I do find the idea of intelligence/sapience is a product of multiple specialized systems coming together an interesting one.

The needle is really a gate thats easy to pass through

It's called Human Resources for a reason

They wont havr nuclear codes though