No they aren't NFTs are recipts. That is all they are. They can have a connection to images or physical goods but they only proove that you bought a recipt and not actual ownership.
I personally view crypto and the crypto boom as an experiment in unfettered capitalism - it's still a new technology, the governments haven't caught up to it yet so no regulations, yet quite literally 99% of crypto usage was in trying to take advantage of others (scams) and speculation.
The only thing with actual value that came out of crypto was probably Monero, which allowed for completely anonymous payments, something that crypto, when paired with crypto exchanges, is bad at.
I was pretty shocked when I found out that NFT pictures aren't even stored in the block chain. NFTs are just records on the block chain with links to images stored on ordinary servers.
FWIW nobody who is actually knowledgeable about crypto ever thought anything positive about NFTs. It's all just wallstreetbets types who read one article and think they're economists now. The tech is interesting and has applications but monkey jpegs are what idiots spent millions on for some reason.
"This comment is an NFT and if you screenshot this I will sue your ass without hesitation. Please paypal me 4500 USD if you would like this comment, and don't mess with me. I got my whole crypto gang on my side. We will fuck you up if you try stealing this comment, so don't fuck with us."
I think NFT's had some promise for stuff you actually have to own (not some ape pictures). Like a digital version for maybe an invitation or tickets or if done properly (by your countries government for example) maybe even for stuff like licenses (i.e. driving license, welding license etc.) Or identification (passport, id, etc.)
Money is just small sheets of intricately designed paper or plastic. Imagine how easy it was to make counterfeits back in the days before all the technology came in