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Theory is a way to fully understand something, but not to the extent that you could successfully apply it. Applying knowledge requires giving shape so that you can examine it. You could have ideas for a sculpture, and you could know lots of theory on some other subject that could be applied conceptually, but attention has to be paid to that particular form, because that's what others see. In music, you can know theory, and you can apply it to form, but it's a question of theory serving the idea. I recall an anecdote about Paul McCartney discovering the B7 chord, and it opened up new possibilities. You could later learn that it's the dominant chord in E minor, and you could study functional harmony, but it still has to be applied, or simply used in the flow of your work. Harmony is, in fact, functional and is ready to be applied, but how does it serve the art? Jazz is harmonic (or vertical) by its nature, and theory guides its composition, and improvisation rides over the top of it in real time horizontally, with theory also being applied in real time using the theoretical tool box of the player, who can decide if or when to use theory. So theory is applied throughout jazz music. Jazz wouldn't be jazz without knowledge of theory. (Jazz sounds like art, but it's really more like a science). AI-generated music requires no theoretical knowledge at all, and is (surprisingly) all art. There's no reason to know anything. It can generate jazz, but no one applies knowledge in real time. It doesn't matter to the listener because they are consuming it as art.)