Unless you're a crazy super talented artist, Photoshop doesn't let anyone create super realistic changes to photos like this, lighting/shadows and all.

That is the meaning of the term "democratized" in this context. Just like the printing press democratized books since they no longer required hiring a personal scribe to copy, normal people no longer need to pay "a crazy super talented artist" for complex Photoshop changes.

Whether this is good or bad depends on where you fall on the Ludite vs e/acc spectrum.