Days after people, in hundreds of thousands, used OpenAI’s image generator in the GPT‑4o model to create Studio Ghibli-inspired art on social media, fans of legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki and critics have expressed their disapproval of the trend and copyright concerns.
On X (formerly Twitter), a tech columnist highlighted several “mind-blowing examples” of Studio Ghibli art created using OpenAI’s latest text-to-image model, which is available only through ChatGPT’s paid version.
It’s been 24 hours since OpenAI unexpectedly shook the AI image world with 4o image generation.
Here are the 14 most mindblowing examples so far (100% AI-generated):
1. Studio ghibli style memespic.twitter.com/E38mBnPnQh
— Barsee 🐶 (@heyBarsee) March 26, 2025
But not everyone was impressed, with one X user asking if they “truly value art so little that it’s just a filter for your profile pic?”
The person urged them to rather pay the artist and “make something real.”
I saw the beautiful 4K IMAX version of Princess Mononoke last night… then got out and saw this shit. Do you morons truly value art so little that it’s just a filter for your profile pic? Pay a fucking artist and make something real you gremlins. https://t.co/A0wK0j54Fk
— Michael Berardini (@mbirdini) March 27, 2025
Another person commented, “People act like this is a good thing but all the soul has been sucked out of society, we really are at the peak, nothing really matters anymore.”
People act like this is a good thing but all the soul has been sucked out of society, we really are at the peak, nothing really matters anymore
— aero♪ (@aer_anu) March 27, 2025
A third user even hoped for Studio Ghibli to sue “everyone involved.”
all this “ghibli trend” made me nauseous, I hope miyazaki sues everyone involved idc
— ♡ (@carademoji2) March 27, 2025
Not just that, several people pointed out how the AI tool was being used to generate controversial studio Ghibli-style AI art of events such as the 9/11 attack on the US in 2001 as well as the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
“With #Ghibli style even scary events look like cozy art,” one X user wrote, sharing an AI-generated image of the attack on the Twin Towers.
With #Ghibli style even scary events looks like cozy art pic.twitter.com/V10t1NrHgr
— Tony Soltana (@Tony_Soltana) March 27, 2025
Another user shared how people were “celebrating” Babri Masjid’s demolition using the AI tool.
Hindutva Twitter is celebrating the demolition of Babri Mosque in 1992 using this studio ghibli AI. https://t.co/41PnUSVRhF
— Mehmood (@ChalParranHo) March 27, 2025
The assassination attempt on US President Donald Trump at an election rally last year was also among the AI images shared by some users.
The best #ghibli pic ever @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/aT76Phq5Cf
— Chittaranjan Kumar (@chitta2019) March 27, 2025
Copyright concerns
The viral trend has also led to ethical concerns about AI tools trained over copyrighted creative works, The Associated Press reported.
OpenAI has encouraged the ‘Ghiblification’ experiments on the internet, with its CEO Sam Altman changing his X profile picture into a Ghibli-style portrait.
“The gpt-4o update is GOOD,” he said in a post.
the gpt-4o update is GOOD
— Sam Altman (@sama) March 28, 2025
The company, which faces copyright lawsuits over its flagship chatbot, said its latest tool was taking a “conservative approach” to mimic the aesthetics of the individual artists.
It claims to have added a “refusal which triggers when a user attempts to generate an image in the style of a living artist”.
Still, it has permitted “broader studio styles” that have been used widely to generate “truly delightful and inspired original fan creations.”
What Hayao Miyazaki said about AI
As people went about reimagining themselves in Studio Ghibli world, an old video of its co-founder Hayao Miyazaki went viral.
In the clip, the renowned filmmaker, known for masterpieces such as Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro, said the AI would not understand the real feelings of humans, adding it was an “insult to life itself”.
“I can’t watch this stuff and find [it] interesting. Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is whatsoever. I am utterly disgusted. If you really want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all,” Mr Miyazaki told FarOut Magazine.
“I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,” he added.
