Humans have consciousness, and free will which is expressed through intention which forms a causal chain. Photography on its own is usually vapid but it’s subject can be meaningful.
I don’t know who you’re quoting. Art is made by people, it’s literally in the definition of the word art. Google it. You haven’t disproven it by observing gravity. Idk what to tell you.
If there is no ambiguity: is a man pushing a button on a camera art? A man pushing a button on an image generator? Yes or no answer because it's very simple as you say, no whining or word soup ahah
A man that just pushes a button on a digital camera isn’t making art. A guy that prompts an LLM to generate an image isn’t making art either. I don’t understand why you think a denotative definitions are “whining” or “word soup”. Just look up the definition of art.