The requirement to either pay a lot for or learn how to do mastering always seemed unnecessary to me.

Stuff like mixing, equalizing, sidechaining and eternal sample hunts all take a lot of time as well... It's why making music is one of the hobbies I had to let go.

Can't wait to get my hands on an AI powered DAW that skips all the tedious stuff!

Am I still the one making the music? Well, I'd argue the 300+ hours I'll probably sink into finetuning all the other stuff will say yes.