The Gear Doesn't Matter... until it does!
For most people, most of the time, the brand or specs of the camera doesn't matter. Over many years, for sure, the cameras get better sensors and better focus systems (which are AI!). But amazing images were captured with film or the early digital cameras of 1 or 2 megapixels or the first cell phone cameras. You see, it's all about SEEING the scene. The biggest element related to gear is your familiarity with one camera, and maybe even one lens. So you can anticipate and react (at least for street photography or capturing moments).
Most cameras are mostly automatic
Unless you are going out of your way to shoot manual, your camera is determining the exposure (based on an average grey) and focusing for you. And that's okay! People have been told countless times not to use "fully automatic", and maybe that's not the best advice. Maybe in fully automatic (the "green" setting on most cameras), the photographer can practice seeing the image, anticipating a moment. Now, if you want to LEARN the basic tenants of photography, then yes, get out of that automatic mode. But let's not deride people that do.
So I shoot mostly Manual mode where I set the Aperture and shutter speed, but then Auto-ISO (within a range), so the camera is still doing the proper exposure for me. If I want a portrait with a blurred background (bokeh) or shooting in low light (indoors or night), I might set f1.8. That same setting can work against you in other scenarios where a group of people won