I actually started paying for an AI service.
Not because I'm a heavy user, or that I rely on it. But because I would rather that they have a subscription model, than an ad-supported model.
I'd rather pay $20 a month for a service designed around my needs, than get a service for free that is designed around advertisers.
In the whole, "If you get a product for free, then you are the product" way of thinking, I would much rather pay for a service I use, rather than being used by people who are serving me ads for free.
On the other hand- I generated about 100 images yesterday for a presentation I was creating. I was able to get exactly what I needed, and pretty quickly. Totally worth the $20 just in one afternoon.