Discarding AI to "become all things to all people" ???

Hello, I'm new! And I have a question not about the morality of AI but the prudence of AI.

When I published my debut in 2024 I was greener than a goblin. After getting quoted $10,000 for a cover design on Reedsy (and not knowing where else to go) I used AI to create a cover, slapped it on the book and hit publish.

Turns out my genre has a zero-tollerance policy for AI. I was EVISCERATED online and spent my first night of being a published author crying as I designed a new, AI-free cover on Canva (which actually turned out way better than my first one).

I write books about God's holiness and broken marriages getting mended, and consider it something of a (verrrrrry small) ministry — so I immediately stopped using AI for everything except grammer/spelling. It was my attempt to be considerate of other people's convictions and become all things to all people.

But now that I'm:

1. finally off Instagram

2. here where people are clearly friendly to the use of AI

I’m curious what your thoughts are?

I've been playing around with the Patron Toolbox and WOW there's so many ways this could make my life easier and make publishing more affordable. I already publish on the shoestring-of-all-shoestring budgets because we're a homeschooling family with four kids on one law enforcement income (read: I cannot afford to do things the traditional indie way and therefore must get very crafty).

But looking at my audience, I can't help but ask myself… if it offends them, is it really worth it?