Just stumbled onto this thread again.
What's appears surprising is that we seem to have allowed the heat of the longish moment between posts to distract us somewhat from the main issue, which I don't believe is the difference between pro and am, but the application of this new technological possibility to the working photographer. Regarding the am, why should it matter in the slightest to him? Nothing will prevent him doing whatever takes his fancy, traditional or latest thing.
The impact, I expect, is going to be almost exclusively on the head of the pro. He will probably find himself having to learn yet another discipline or face a declining market for what he does if, indeed, he is allowed to hang on to that part of the process at all!
Considering the currrent heat about stock, perhaps this will change the format of that sector yet again. I do not see all that many amateurs willing to learn/afford even more abstract software and join in that particular race. For a start, as amateurs they have the freedom of choice, of doing what they think is fun, which presumably is shooting pictures. I see the opportunities for existing stock agencies changing too, with fresh markets opening to them as suppliers of ever more clip art at even lower prices. These are opportunities, aren't they, lowered prices?
For people that shot people shots on far-flung beaches, in paddy fields, in cityscapes, on boats etc. the chance for enjoying the buzz of the days of travelling somewhere to do that has already shrunk a lot; maybe this signals the end. It may also mean that fewer creative, curious minds that once sought that very thrill will survive or ever exist in pro photography again. It was only because it formed part of the possible that many of us actually had those pro pho dreams and managed to turn them into fact for ourselves; little else about photography is remotely exciting enough to warrant spending your life doing it for survival.
Frankly, an Orwellian future may turn out to be not one of political tyranny but one of extreme personal boredom.
Rob C