It's _better_ that the illustrations were made by an illustrator, but it still would have been cool and front-page-worthy if that hadn't been the case.
Not really. AI slop is an instant turn-off for me. It's like hearing someone talk about a dream they had; it is egregiously boring for everyone except the person relating it.
If you can't see the beauty and interest in a description of solving a problem with a visually pleasant and unique UI, regardless of the tools used to solve it, that sounds like a you-problem.