I'm not a photographer. I'm a writer with an Adobe Stock account. (I used to be with Shutterstock, by the way.) I've been aware for years that if I really wanted to, I could download sample images and remove the watermarks. Or I could do the next best thing, download a high-res Adobe image that appears in some other publication and then claim I licensed it. I mean, what are the odds anybody would actually check?

I don't do that. I license images from Adobe because otherwise I would feel terrible about myself. I pay a reasonable fee per month to use a certain number of images, and I think that's fair and appropriate. (I also realize that despite doing that, photographers are poorly compensated when I use their work.)

I seldom use free services like Unsplash, because I find their selection often doesn't fit what I'm writing about, or if it does the photos are overused to the point of being tropes.

I often use images with Creative Commons licenses, because it's far easier to find current-events relevant photos that way than with a stock service.

I still rely on my Adobe Stock account, however, for some images. I keep a paid account because I'm reluctant to steal from people like you.

I'm sure not everyone thinks the way I do, but I bet most people do. I think you're right that AI technology to remove watermarks isn't a big deal right now.