One thing this blog post is missing is the words "I'm sorry" or "I feel bad about this." I suspect he doesn't feel bad about it at all and revealing the deception is now just for more clicks and attention.
I get that we now live in an age of trolls, but this isn't a "whoo hoo, I trolled the world!" post. This post is using the language of morality that it's wrong to lie. The post itself is saying what he did was wrong. And yet, not apologizing for it. As you say, it's just another troll.
It's an interesting topic in light of generative AI art. In many cases, the generated stuff can look nearly identical to some really talented artists' work. So are the artists themselves irrelevant? Is their work more or less valuable, given that it took much more time and effort for them to produce?
Why do people line up to see the real Mona Lisa when they can see essentially the same result on their smartphone or tablet?