Well those artists consented to being assistants and having their works used. Not so much with these image training databases

If you want to use image generation to generate an image, go ahead. I sometimes do the same for placeholder images.

It’s not art though, it’s just plagiarism that’s been abstracted several times over. I could come up with a really cool search string for Google Images that has an awesome first result. But by downloading the first result and passing it off as my work isn’t art, it’s plagiarism.

If you want real art for your project, commission an artist to make it; or keep practicing until you find yourself good enough to make it.

I’m not gatekeeping art; the creativity, the effort, and the skills of the craft are the gatekeeper.