To me it's a funding issue. If you have the $$$ to afford art for something you'll be selling that is art-dependent, then you don't have an excuse to not pay a

To me it's a funding issue. If you have the $$$ to afford art for something you'll be selling that is art-dependent, then you don't have an excuse to not pay artists. If you don't have the money, especially during the prototyping phase, then feel free. You weren't going to be paying artists anyway. But, as you approach releasing the product, or once you're selling it and making money, you should strive to do everything you can to hire and pay artists appropriately, if for no other reason than you'll likely get a better quality product that is more cohesive across the board. AI assets are a gapfiller, not an end goal.