Shortly after OpenAI introduced its latest AI image generator, a trend emerged on social media in which users began replicating the distinctive style of Studio Ghibli, showcasing the tool’s capabilities and sparking debates about copyright issues.
The recent upgrade to GPT-4o, launched this Tuesday, brings several practical improvements, including enhanced text accuracy and the capacity to handle complex, detailed prompts.
Moreover, this version has been extensively trained on a “vast variety of image styles,” OpenAI announced, impressing users with its ability to create images and videos that echo their favorite animations, ranging from “South Park” to traditional claymation.
However, one style has dominated platforms like X and Instagram: users of ChatGPT (and OpenAI’s text-to-video service, Sora) have started mimicking the unique flair of the renowned animation studio known for films such as “Spirited Away” and “Howl’s Moving Castle.”
Users have reimagined scenes from pop culture and politics in the iconic style of the Japanese studio, including a modified trailer for “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” various scenes from “The Sopranos”, and a tense exchange between Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Some of the most shared posts give a Ghibli twist to well-known memes, such as the “distracted boyfriend,” the “bro explaining” meme, and the widely recognized image of Ben Affleck smoking.
One viral post on X features the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, amusing himself with cutlery—an image inspired by a recent video of the billionaire balancing spoons at a dinner hosted by Trump in New Jersey.
Also making the rounds is a resurfaced video from 2016 in which Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, criticizes AI-generated art as an “insult to life itself.” Known for his commitment to hand-drawn animation and meticulous frame-by-frame technique, Miyazaki expresses strong disapproval.
“I am utterly disgusted,” he states in the video, reacting to a monster character created with text prompts. “If you really want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it, but I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all.”
The release of OpenAI’s updated image generator has reignited discussions at the intersection of AI and art.
This comes shortly after nearly 4,000 people signed an open letter urging Christie’s auction house to cancel an unprecedented auction exclusively featuring AI art, citing concerns over the use of copyrighted material and the potential exploitation of human artists.
OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, humorously addressed the trend on X, noting that after spending “a decade trying to help make superintelligence to cure cancer or whatever,” it was the Studio Ghibli-themed images that went viral.
“Mostly no one cares for first 7.5 years, then for 2.5 years everyone hates you for everything,” he wrote. “Wake up one day to hundreds of messages: ‘Look I made you into a twink Ghibli style haha,’” Altman added, using a colloquial term for young, slender men.
As with most AI-generated art, these images bring to the forefront a range of copyright concerns—not only regarding Studio Ghibli’s work but also the reimagined content itself.
