The $200/mo version you're paying for today is the one that will be ~free for everyone in 6 months. You're only paying to use the bleeding edge of technology that improves so fast, and drops in costs so fast, that the entry-level free offering today is better than most expensive tier a year ago, and beyond science fiction just three years ago.
I swear most people dissing AI with such arguments must perpetually live in a moment and have zero concept of passage of time.
I fail to see how I’m “dissing AI”. I use it almost every fucking waking hour after all, both professionally and personally. I just don’t pretend it’s free/cheap (especially when you mention it in the context of “everyone only the planet”), or even more ridiculously, some charitable gift from Big (AI) Tech to the world. And if you look into my comment history I’m pretty clear I support IP free-for-all; cat’s out of the bag, just don’t talk two-faced nonsense like “distillation attacks” and I’m fine with it. And as a prolific open source contributor with popular projects, including at least one under GPL, they definitely stole from me—again, fine with it.