Having used AI images myself, I'm very much aware of the limitations of the technology for generating usable featured images on blog posts. That said, I feel like some people aren't even trying to get good generative AI. They're just settling for crap. Or so it seems.
I would prefer to use real photographs over AI-generated imagery but it's getting harder to find them. The image sharing sites are being flooded with AI images. Some are pretty good, but some are just plain stupid.