I don't care at all about the philosophy of art. I have creative goals in mind and not enough time to become competent at all the prerequisite skills to master them.

>I have creative goals in mind and not enough time to become competent at all the prerequisite skills to master them

You are consuming, not creating.

Cool story; don't care.

do you think taking a photo of something is skipping to the end goal of painting? no. it will just be used as a tool for more creativity for the people who will do the work.

>do you think taking a photo of something is skipping to the end goal of painting

Going outside and taking a photo requires you to be engaging with the scene around you. You are the actor doing the thing. When you prompt an AI, the AI is the actor doing the thing.

Would you consider film directors to be artists?

Yes! Directors orchestrate hundreds of people and other creatives, have a say in how scenes are shot, how actors perform their lines, which music gets used, which lines need to be changed or added, etc.

Not to mention that many directors also write the script for the film.

Wouldn't all this hold true for AI videos as well, it's just that you'll be going through hundreds of prompts and bad generations before you get to something approaching your vision?

N.B. If directing people is the distinguishing factor, then animation directors are robbed of their claim to artistry as well, as is basically any solo artist in history

I never said directing people is the distinguishing factor. I only said a director is an artist as they are deeply involved in the creation of the art in question. There is no hidden layer of linear algebra that obfuscates the creative process and that does the majority of the work.

this view is really limited. like I said, people who will do the work... will. You are thinking of the majority of lazy people who aren't producing anything of real value in the design/art world already.