It shouldn't matter how the images/etc are created. The problem comes about when it's used as an original work by the person that's doing so. Imagine instead o

It shouldn't matter how the images/etc are created. The problem comes about when it's used as an original work by the person that's doing so. Imagine instead of AI/ML, we have a mechanical-turk-like service that produces output from descriptions. The service makes no claims that the generated outputs are not similar to any copyrighted works. The only claim the service makes is that they themselves claim no copyright on the output. It's then up to the user of the service to determine if the output is suitable for their intended use. Whether such a service itself is legal is a separate matter. For that matter, say you outsourced the artwork to a person who again gave you infringing work. The user of that output is still in violation. With AI/ML we're basically outsourcing to a 'service' that is known to sometimes output copyrighted work so with the user knowing that, are responsible for fair usage.