The sentient artist there is just the operator-- which might be the consumer of the art themselves.

It's possible for the technology to radically change and (potentially) lower the specialized skills required to create art with mass appeal.

This may have a detrimental effect on many people currently in that business, though certainly many will adapt to the new tools and most artists were already not able to earn a living from their art already.

Say what you want about Thomas Kinkade or Kenny G, but their output has been extremely widely appreciated and highly profitable...

Does it threaten art for art's sake? Not at all. Does it threaten people who make a living producing mass market art commercially and won't adopt the new tools? Perhaps. OTOH, we can get hyper-bespoke crap art instead of mass produced crap art-- and that's probably an improvement.