Studio Ghibli Silent on OpenAI's AI Copies; Fans React on Subreddit

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When OpenAI rolled out its image-generation feature in ChatGPT last week, social media went wild as users discovered they could create AI-generated images that mimicked the enchanting style of Studio Ghibli's animated films. Fans were eager to see what Studio Ghibli's legendary creator, Hayao Miyazaki, would say, but the 84-year-old animator has kept his thoughts to himself. Meanwhile, over in the Ghibli fan subreddit, fans are sticking to their guns and continuing to ban AI-generated art. A moderator on the Ghibli subreddit posted last week, saying, "I just noticed about a dozen different 'BAN AI NOW' posts here, seemingly spurred on by an influx of AI Ghibli art on other sites. We don't allow AI art. We haven't allowed it basically since it became a thing." These fans don't see the AI-generated images as a tribute to the iconic artist. Instead, they believe these AI models are trained on copyrighted images from artists like Miyazaki, who never gave OpenAI or any of its competitors the green light to use their work in this way. This issue isn't just hitting the Ghibli community; it's affecting other creators and writers too. The New York Times, along with other publishers, have taken legal action against OpenAI, claiming the company used their copyrighted materials to train its models without any payment or consent. Similar lawsuits have been filed against Meta and Midjourney. The situation with Ghibli really struck a chord with fans, especially since Hayao Miyazaki has been pretty outspoken about his disdain for AI-generated artwork. In 2016, Miyazaki made his feelings clear in a documentary when he was shown AI-generated 3D animation. He said, "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." People have also been using AI to create portraits in the style of Pixar movies and Dr. Seuss illustrations. Even the White House's X account jumped on the bandwagon, posting a Ghibli-style image that crudely mocked a woman for crying while being handcuffed by ICE. As more of these "Ghiblified" images spread across the internet, fans of the legendary 84-year-old animator have been sharing his past comments to discourage others from copying his style, but the cat's already out of the bag. Not all of these images are Ghibli-style, but their popularity has pushed the AI company's capabilities to the limit. Brad Lightcap, who oversees day-to-day operations at OpenAI, mentioned that over 130 million users have created more than 700 million images using this new ChatGPT feature. "The range of visual creativity has been extremely inspiring," Lightcap wrote.

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