Thanks for raising this concern. Basically there are many reasons why people build their artificial islands. I think it is not proper to generalise why people live on artificial islands. On the other hand, I can not deny some elements of reality in part of the claim with regards to the origins of some of the artificial islands.
This can be a sensitive issue to some people who live on the artificial islands. However, if this issue is of benefit to set the records right then maybe it is better to do a statistical study. Then present some statistical data for the different reasons why people originally built their artificial islands.