If the pursuit is enjoyable, it should continue to be enjoyable as a hobby, no?

Meanwhile, where is my levy of custom artists willing to do free commission work for me? It’s enjoyable, right?

I see a lot of discussion about money and copyright, and little to no discussion about the individual whose life is enriched by access to these tools and technologies.

As for your bleak future… will that even come to pass? I don’t know. Maybe it depends on your notion of “surpass”, and what that looks like.