The problem here, is that (I'm speaking from the field of software design, not creative design, but there's enough overlap in what I'm saying I doubt you'll be mad) the overwhelming majority of the use cases don't need a level of creativity or talent that justifies the cost. The mom 'n pop restaurant just can't afford a designer for their menus who will do more than take some menu template they scrounged on the Internet somewhere and drop in those food descriptions, typically with a few typos along the way.

Likewise, most apps, most products just don't justify the price of a truly great designer. And if I have to choose between spending "lots of money for a mediocre-to-OK designer", "doing it myself", or "doing it myself with the help of some AI-enabled tool"... it's choice #3 or maybe choice #2 for me.

There were a lot of years in my life where the money I made putting together little web sites for small businesses was the difference between "paying the bills" and "doing something nice for the family". I am NOT bagging on these folks in the slightest. But I remember the day when someone who I knew came to me and asked me to do their site for them, and in good faith I couldn't let myself take their money. I told them to go get an account at Wix or Squarespace and use the rest of their budget to buy Facebook ads. I realized that the days of doing that site myself and picking up an easy $1k or $2k were over, and the people doing it full time were either going to be out of business, or have to step up to a higher level of clientele and deliver better work to suit. And not everyone has the skill or talent for that. :(

J.Ja