It’s not that a new tool will replace you. It’s that a new tool might be too compelling to avoid, but be boring and miserable to work with and suck the joy out of your craft.
Sounds like one artist in that studio is being let go, considering the studio is now getting work done dramatically faster. It'll probably be the guy with the (IMO understandable) "poor attitude" about what the job has become.
Even if you think the studio will simply output more art, they either need to find financially-viable uses for six times as much art, or let go of an artist - because if they just start using three times as much, that's still only enough work for one of the two artists.
you don't have to use the tool - just don't complain that you're not as competitive commercially as someone else who does.
If the craft is what you enjoy, then do it apart from the craft's commercial utility. Make it a separate part of your life - use the AI in your job, and don't use it in your spare time doing art for joy.
I'm a developer. I really hope my day doesn't end up being code review of shitty Copilot generated code because the person accepting the prompt did have the knowledge or care to check it themselves. Sure, I'd still be valuable and I'd still get paid, but I'd be miserable. At least until that skill is no longer needed. Or someone can do it for cheaper.
Setting aside I have other responsibilities outside of work that really don't leave much time for side projects, about the last thing I want to do is work on personal code projects just so they can be sucked up by Copilot. Not to mention I'm also supposed to allocate time to learn a new skill so I can be competitive in a new, rapidly shrinking job market.
like javascript
Bringing characters and worlds to life is what artists really dream about, and AI tools make that easier.
But actually this is a great point. You are right. Even in software development, the joy is building something excellent. The joy isn't usually in defining random util functions to help you get there.
With these advances we could be about to reach a point where extremely small groups of people could build phenomenal things. How nice it would be to be capable of building AAA games with a team of 2-3 people.