I do not consider the use of AI to be unethical or a sign of a lack of imagination.
Me neither. That is why I think we need good arguments to convince any developer that might potentially use ai, to avoid it - if possible. It's just not enough to tell them they do evil or that they are lacking in skill, or are lazy.
As you said, maybe they just cannot use the tools of the trade. But they might be able to use the skills of another trade to achieve some results.
For such devs it is a choice between using ai where they have some creative input, or using stock assets, or just not have a game at all.
From that viewpoint I accept some ai in some hobby projects. But I do not tolerate it in bigger productions. Same as I would tolerate eating microwaved food at a friend's house, but not at a fancy restaurant.