Yes, mainly to avoid phishing sites. Because there are so many image storage/ upload providers, that we are not able to know them all. It's better if we can see images without clicking on links and visit those sites. My trick works fine if images attached in posts published recently, we can easily visit post history and find that post. However, it will costs a little more time if we have to find posts made months ago, just to view images.
So, the question is, if you want to see images posted by Newbies (and don't buy Copper Membership). You can directly click on links to see images, but this way will put you under risks of phising link traps. Clicking on links is fine if you know well about those sites, but the fact is there are so many sites provide image uploads, so you are not able to know them all. Consequently, if you have such habit, you might instantly click on links to unknow sites, that are potentially phising sites. Be careful!
TBH, that's not a super hard ask.
If I get the time, I'll see if I can code something up.