"A machine could've done that"

Welcome to the first of what is sure to be many posts insipred by my recent viewing of Art School Confidential.

The film's main character is Jerome. He's an artist whose drawings are what probably 98% of America considers impressive and considers "art" - pictures of people which are realistic, accurate to reality, and attractive.

In the film, there is a scene where a class is critiquing each other's self-portaits. There are a wide variety of styles, from abstract to even word-art. One of the students attacks Jerome's drawing, saying something like, "Look at yours, Jerome! A machine could've done that!" The self-portrait that the class prefers is an abstract expressionist drawing which consists of a series of lines.

This scene perfectly demonstrates the difference between what the average person admires and what is truly creative and expressive. I picture Jerome being heavily praised his entire life, by "average" people, for producing these accurate drawings. Now that he is among other artists, his art looks almost ridiculous by comparision. The student that criticized him is correct - a machine could have produced his drawing. Why do we even need an artist?