I haven't used AI myself yet, but it sounds a lot like using filters in GIMP. I've spent loads of time trying to get the right effect out of filters.
It's actually kind of worth it just for seeing what it's capable of, if you're into that!
I've even found some interesting uses for AI that actually involve some effort on the enduser, making it kind of an interesting tool to use:
- Color palette extraction
- Basis for image manipulation techniques (personal favorite)
- Basis for game assets (I used some for a DIY card game and it was hilarious)
- Ideas for interesting shapes when practicing fundamentals
- Reference photos
Actually, I feel like AI could take the place of free stock photography sites, since it's all kind of fair-use / loose copyright / public domain under these guidelines. So while it doesn't seem like a powerful tool at first glance, people already use freely-available images for a multitude of purposes like this in order to create their own works, and I don't see why this couldn't be the same!
Also I should mention that I'm only talking about image-generation here, as AI is extremely vast and far-reaching in many other territories -- almost too many to even mention in one breath.