echo People who design machines and airplanes {or buildings}, no matter how much they believe that what they do is good, the winds of time eventually turn them into tools of industrial civilization. They’re cursed dreams. Animation, too. Beautiful yet cursed dreams.
― Hayao Miyazaki, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (2013)
Still from Howl’s Moving Castle
The Ghibli AI “Art” Trend
Most social media users would probably have been made aware by now of the recent trend of AI generated images in the style of Studio Ghibli, Inc. The trend involves prompting any image to be re-imagined in Studio Ghibli’s signature artstyle.
It all started with ChatGPT’s latest update on the 25th of March, which opened up a whole new level of image generating capabilities for its users, featuring improvements that would make generated images appear more precise, accurate and consistent, as well as having less of that AI-like artificial sheen that makes identifying AI images so easy. Text rendering, something that used to be a major obstacle for AI, has also now been made possible.
With this, users immediately began converting all sorts of images into different notable art styles (so much so that Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, had to beg users to “please chill” on X), including, but not limited to, Studio Ghibli, South Park and The Simpsons. If we were to trace the Studio Ghibli hype back to one culprit though, the arrows would point to X user Grant Slatton, who uploaded a transformed image of his wife and dog in said style, which amassed over 50 million views. Many found this amusing and followed suit, transforming their own images, from scenic vacation shots to viral memes, into the beloved Ghibli style. 6 days after launching the update, Altman claimed that ChatGPT added 1 million new users in the span of one hour.
One factor that really contributed to the reason this trend blew up is precisely because the topic at hand is Ghibli. The contradictory manner by which Ghibli’s ethos and AI collide is what sparked a multitude of online discourse, with Ghibli fans claiming that AI generating art in the style of Ghibli is devaluing and disrespectful to the artists who worked on the films, while the rest of the general public refutes that the trend has instead helped Ghibli gain more traction and brought a larger audience to appreciate its films. Miyazaki himself has shared negative sentiments towards AI, stating in an interview that he felt as though it was an “insult to life itself.”
Although an update to ChatGPT has since been implemented that refuses the generation of images in the styles of living artists (reasons why are ambiguous), Altman continues to use a generated Ghibli-style image of himself as his profile photo on X, and has retweeted images of others doing the same.
The Internet’s Discourse
AI, and generative AI in particular, has been a subject of controversy ever since its popularisation, especially when it comes to its questionable methods of data scraping; blurring the lines between what falls under fair use and at which point it is considered theft. Many of those within the creative sector have expressed concern over how AI can seemingly be fed the work of artists and replicate the styles that they have spent years curating and honing, within a matter of seconds.
Ghibli fans have expressed their dissatisfaction with the trend, stating that the basis of many Ghibli films are centered around themes of environmentalism, anti-fascism, anti-war, pacifism, and humanity, among other virtuous themes; all of which are contradictory to what generative AI is known for. To specify, when it comes to environmental concerns, AI is known to be extremely energy and water intensive— with one image generation costing as much energy as fully charging a phone, and a hundred word text generation consuming up to 3 bottles of water (there is a separate Echo Media article covering this topic specifically).
Many netizens have voiced out connections they have made between AI art and powerful figures with fascist propensities. Elon Musk, owner of xAI’s Grok, in prime example, has been slashing the ranks of federal employees that challenge his authority, and staffing his department: the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with under-qualified workers from his own companies. Following the connections made, people are also upset with the ways the trend has been used—both the Whitehouse and the Israel Defence Force’s social media accounts have posted images generated in the Ghibli style to sugarcoat anti-immigrant and pro-imperialist propaganda.
Aside from being used to create misleading advertising, there is also the issue of AI directly being used in war by corporations in favour of AI art such as Google and Amazon, corporations that have developed technology such as Project Nimbus, an AI-powered cloud network that enables mass surveillance and targeting for the Israeli military. It should be noted that in 2003, Miyazaki himself has refused to receive an Oscar for his film Spirited Away in the US, as he “didn’t want to visit a country that was bombing Iraq”—so we can only imagine how he must feel now that his works are being used alongside such projects.
Grave of the Fireflies’ anti-war messaging
Art as Commodity, Art as Craft
But what do those in support of AI generated “art” have to say? Many have said that through this trend, Studio Ghibli is able to gain popularity as more people are made aware of the studio and its films. Others have said that art has been made accessible to those who don’t possess the skill set to create at a higher level. Some have even gone as far as to say that if artists were simply good/better at their craft, they needn’t be worried about being replaced by AI. Most, though, simply have the well-intended want of incorporating the art style into their personal photos to make their fond memories feel more magical. In that sense, they are participating because it is trendy, finding it aesthetically pleasing and beautiful.
At its core, all these sentiments share the same basis: art is viewed as a commodity, not as a craft. Unfortunately, this is all too familiar of an occurrence under our consumerist culture. People will pick what is cheapest and most convenient to them, without caring for who they are stepping over, nor for the larger implications of their actions. It is a behaviour that can be found in the way major fast-fashion brands like Shein and Urban Outfitters steal the designs of smaller artists to sell as their own products. This trend mirrors capitalism in a way that those who exploit are rewarded (in this case with quick, free art) and those who are exploited (artists having their work stolen) have little choice but to accept their circumstance. Ultimately, one has to question whether all this damage is worth a few meager likes on social media.
In light of recent events, a four second hand-drawn clip from Studio Ghibli’s The Wind Rises that took over a year to create has been circulating, highlighting just how much dedication and effort goes into the making of each Ghibli film. The clip features a crowd navigating through the aftereffects of an earthquake, with each character in the crowd having their own unique personality, expression, and place to be, making their way through the crowd in a chaotic yet beautifully coordinated mass. In relation to the scene, Miyazaki explains, “The characters who make up the crowd around the main characters are not just anyone, these are characters who have their own existence within the film. You should not animate them just any way, but really bring them to life.” The creation of this clip was truly a process; a process which AI creation lacks, and the fact that such work can be stolen and soullessly replicated has rightfully sparked nothing short of an outrage.
Ghibli and Miyazaki’s Legacy
There are so many things we can’t do anything about if we think about generalities. Things won’t go well because there is a huge gap between the generalities and the particulars. If we see generalities from the top of a mountain or from a plane, we feel it’s hopeless, but if we go down, there is a nice road running about fifty meters, we feel this is a nice road, and if the weather is fine and shining, we feel we can go on… Since the people in the community are cleaning up the river in my neighborhood, I join them when I have the time. A human can often be satisfied with the particulars. That’s what I like best these days.
— Hayao Miyazaki, “Now, after Nausicaa has finished” Yom, Issue June 1994
For the better part of the 62 years he has been animating, director Hayao Miyazaki champions the dreams of people worldwide. Under Studio Ghibli—the studio Miyazaki co-founded with several other determined figures such as legendary director, mentor and fellow labour union figure Isao Takahata—Miyazaki has released plenty of globally adored films, most notably Spirited Away (2001), which in 2003, was awarded Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards. To this day, it is the only non-english film to have won the award.
See that house with the Ivy on it? From that rooftop, what if you leapt onto the next rooftop, dashed over that blue & green wall, climbed and jumped up the pipe, ran across the roof and jumped to the next? You can, in animation.
If you could walk along the cable, you could see the other side. When you look from above, so many things reveal themselves to you. Maybe race along the concrete wall. Suddenly, there in your humdrum town there is a magical movie. Isn’t it fun to see things that way? Feels like you could go somewhere far beyond…
…maybe you can…
― Hayao Miyazaki, The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness (2013)
Miyazaki’s filmography is teeming with creative life that freely blends the familiar with the unfamiliar—forests coming alive with giant insects, a grand bathhouse for spirits, a goldfish with the head of a child, a world where a giant castle floats in the sky, an Italian World War I ex-fighter ace (who is also a humanoid pig)—his works exude childhood wonder, but these films are not just childhood dreams…
Art is Conflict
There are many documentaries surrounding Miyazaki and his work. Here are some popular ones:
- Never-Ending Man (2016)
- 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki (2019)
- The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness (2013)
- Hayao Miyazaki and The Heron (2024)
The documentaries follow a typical flow—a camera crew follows Miyazaki around, documenting his thoughts, interactions, work, and the dedicated artists that make up Studio Ghibli. Each documentary also features Miyazaki and his team working on a particular film, allowing audiences to better understand the work that goes into the creation of his films. Something important is made clear in each of the documentaries—there isn’t a minute where Miyazaki isn’t struggling when working on his films.
The years captured in the documentary series “10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki (2019)” provides audiences with a look into the creation of the 2008 movie “Ponyo”—which is about an adorable goldfish princess who longs to become human after falling in love. The character is based on one of his coworker’s daughters, and Miyazaki can be seen happily talking to his coworker about her while drafting the movie’s imageboards.
Drawing on paper is the root of animation. I think I’ll go back to that. Once again, I’ll row the oars myself, raise the sails in the wind and cross the sea. Anyway, I’ll draw with a pencil. — Hayao Miyazaki, on the production of Ponyo.
At some point during the production of the film, Miyazaki gets stuck in a rut, figuring out the right way to portray the grandmother figure, Toki in the film. The frustrations Miyazaki feels portraying Toki he admits may have stemmed from his relationship with his mother, who contracted severe tuberculosis when the director was young. There is a beautiful scene in the documentary where Miyazaki sits down to draw, and realises he has not yet listened to the album that had been completed by Joe Hisashi for the film. Upon listening to the last song of the album, “Himawari no Ie no Rinbu Kyoku,” which is a song about the feelings of grandmothers in their retirement homes, Miyazaki seems to become teary-eyed, and listens to the song repeatedly.
Miyazaki finally finishes his storyboard, appealing to the frustrations he felt in his youth not being able to hug his sick mother as much as he wanted to by having Toki embrace her grandchild Sosuke in a beautiful scene.
It becomes clear that Miyazaki never strays from exploring his inner conflicts within each and every one of his films. In “The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness” (2013), Miyazaki is working on his 2013 film “The Wind Rises”—a film about the life of an aircraft engineer who invented the “Zero” fighter, which was used by the Japanese navy during World War II. Throughout the documentary, we see that Miyazaki struggled at many points when making the film. Miyazaki was born during the war, and his father had been a supplier for the “Zero” fighter rudders. Furthermore, Miyazaki himself was quite fond of the designs of fighter planes. Miyazaki created this film with these conflicts in mind, aimed to understand his father’s dilemma without judging him, through a just portrayal of the engineer in the film.
Miyazaki in “The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness” (2013)
There are several images floating around of Miyazaki, most likely smoking, grumpy, and saying something awfully depressing. Although many of these images have been fabricated for memes, many of these quotes are real. The quote from above is taken from a conversation he had about both being a director and his views of the world. Audiences like to point out the duality of Miyazaki, who’s personality betrays his wondrous creations. Perhaps this quote of his provides a better understanding of this conflict.
Personally I am very pessimistic. But when, for instance, one of my staff has a baby you can’t help but bless them for a good future. Because I can’t tell that child, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t have come into this life.’ And yet I know the world is heading in a bad direction. So with those conflicting thoughts in mind, I think about what kind of films I should be making.
― Hayao Miyazaki, “A god among animators,” The Guardian
Hayao Miyazaki creates what he creates because he is critical. His movies are the product of introspection and a struggle to put things right—to do his stories justice. Miyazaki’s fantasies have always strived to portray the right thing through beauty, joy, and sorrow.
Looking at the roots of any piece of art, one will find conflict. Miyazaki’s conflicts are personal and deeply rooted in a care for the love within humanity. The director’s rejection of the exploitation of art and artists can be seen throughout his work, his past position in a labour union, and his words. When looking at the roots of generative AI art, what sort of conflicts can be found?
And work that should be done lovingly by hand has been whittled away at within organized production systems that focus on straight work for hire.
― Hayao Miyazaki, Starting Point: 1979-1996
Effects on the Entertainment Industry
Although ethics are by no means determined by the law, it is still worth noting the legal actions that have been taken against not just OpenAI but other generative AI models as well. As mentioned, generative AI scraping tends to blur the lines between fair use and copyright infringement. Most recently, the New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for using millions of the Times articles to train its AI without permission, generating output that mimics the Times’ writing style and recites its content verbatim, including content hidden behind paywall, which “deprives it of subscription, licensing, advertising and affiliate revenue.” Meta has also faced lawsuits for illegally downloading millions of legally protected texts. As media outlet Futurism bluntly puts it: “one of the largest companies in the world didn’t even bother to pay for a single copy of each book it used to build its AI.” Similarly, OpenAI, a company worth $157 billion, did not pay a single cent on the data it used to train ChatGPT on.
X user @ednewtonrex on copyright infringement
The same applies to creative industries, including, but not limited to, film, music, and gaming industries. When AI steals from artists and replicates their art, it threatens their job opportunities as others can now create their own creative content without commissioning an artist. In fact, it’s already happening, as seen in a survey where a staggering 99% of 300 surveyed business leaders from the entertainment industry were looking to implement AI into work processes, which will affect an estimated 200,000 jobs (not including freelancers and contract workers) and upwards in the US alone.
While there is no denying how far AI capabilities have reached, with people being able to create their own full length films through keying in AI prompts alone, it’s important to recognise the ethics and the further reaching impacts of the situation. Even though it’s true that generative AI has allowed for art to be more accessible and can help those who lack artistic skill to still be able to indulge in creative fun, it ultimately does not excuse the theft that occurs that allows generative AI to do what it does. By no means are we entitled to the fruits of someone else’s labour, especially not through exploitation.
Though true creativity can not be replicated by a non-sentient algorithm, the reality is that it does not matter nearly as much as it should to larger creative companies and producers, as they are constantly on the lookout for ways to lower production costs and the cheapest way to create the next blockbuster. And as seen in how the general public is so eager to consume AI generated content—going as far as to create their own—it is evident that stripping creatives of their jobs is ultimately profitable to large corporations, as people will consume their content regardless of whether AI is involved or not.
Although most people who participated in the Ghibli trend did not mean harm, extra consideration before hopping onto any trend is definitely worth the time.
What Can We Do?
All in all, the Ghibli hype will die down within a few weeks (or maybe even by the time this article is released), just like any other trend has. This however, further highlights how disposable art has become thanks to the capabilities of generative AI. Though technological advancements are inevitable, we can still choose how we want to participate in its use. The best thing we can do is to be mindful of our use of generative AI; avoid using it excessively and unnecessarily, such as for meager tasks like generating grocery lists or simply using it as a chat buddy. After all, using AI to replicate art dehumanises a form of personal expression, and can be boiled down to a devaluation of human creativity and the hard work that goes behind creating. It also fosters a comfortability with stealing from others so long as the perpetrators do not face any direct consequences.
Closing Remarks
Below are sentiments shared on the topic from both Sunway students and others online:
“Studio Ghibli is a labour of love. There is no love without the labour.” —@postsapience on Instagram
“Studio Ghibli’s art has depth because it comes from hardworking people who implement their own sense of meaning into it; the movements in its animation, how it’s expressed, the thoughts put into details, the colours, harmony, imagination, and so much more.” —Sunway FASS student
“This trend is not a tribute. It’s a shortcut. An erasure. We’re not honouring the legacy, we’re flattening it.” —@kstm.in on Instagram
“I believe we all wish for a perfect world where these mild forms of AI with well intended use do not end up causing harmful effects, but like any other AI trend, the drowning out of actual artists who can be commissioned is not acceptable.” —Sunway SMLS student
“Art should not be convenient!” —Sunway College alumni
“Saying ‘why should I care? I don’t consume the method, I consume the product’ blatantly shows the effects of consumerism on society; they don’t care where it comes from, as long as they get what they want. It totally defeats the purpose of making art.” —Sunway FASS student
Written by: Sarah & Fel
Edited by: Ashley
