I use those pictures solely to grab people's attention to increase the chance that they'll read the article. Unfortunately, AI-generated pictures are often more striking in terms of their composition, colour balance, black levels, and so on. They're also in vogue so if you don't use them, readers may pass over the articles just because they're bored of regular photos. I wish I didn't have to sell my writing at all with photos and catchy headlines, but that's how the platform works.