Because it's a) a useful function for the app that b) can't practically be done entirely on-device, and c) they believe they're not sending anything private off-device.
It must be awfully convenient to believe that the only possible reason for it to be on is the same reason you made up entirely based on nothing. Personally, I don't find that logic convincing.
Apple turning a feature on by default can only possibly be a conspiracy to surreptitiously obtain training data from people’s photos? It couldn’t just be that they think most people will want the feature?
It’s one thing to argue that Apple is doing this for nefarious reasons, but to suggest that this is somehow the only conceivable option is a bit nuts.