FWIW I don’t think they are defending AI by saying that it takes more effort than drawing to make an “intentionally innovative” image.
The person you’re responding to is a titan in their field. Check yourself before you try to check others.
How do you know the background/experience of the person you're responding to? And even if the person you're claiming has authority here were the worlds leading expert on generative AI, that wouldn't make them authorative on the difficulty of drawing an intentionally innovative image from scratch.
Regardless, the original comment was clearly not serious.
tbh I don't consider myself a titan in the field but I appreciate the complement :)