> IMO AI models are better at generating pictures than at writing code, in that pictures do tolerate sloppy approximations.

So does code. You can have poorly written code that runs slow but gets the job done because modern machines are powerful enough to make up the difference. (cough the majority of electron apps cough).

You’re definitely going to get dinged more for AI art. People can’t see the code, but they can see the art - that’s their first experience with the game unless the code is so bad that it literally causes visible bugs.

I work heavily in the generative space and while standalone AI art has come a long way, maintaining visual consistency in sprite assets across an entire game still needs a ton of hand holding particularly if you require animated sprite assets without them looking "uncanny valley".