Fans of Studio Ghibli recently experienced enthusiasm when a new version of ChatGPT enabled users to transform popular internet memes or personal photos into the distinct style of Hayao Miyazaki, the founder of Studio Ghibli. However, this trend raised ethical concerns regarding artificial intelligence tools that are trained using copyrighted creative works and the implications for the future livelihoods of human artists. Hayao Miyazaki, aged 84 and known for his hand-drawn approach and whimsical storytelling, has previously expressed skepticism about AI’s involvement in animation.
Janu Lingeswaran, an entrepreneur living near Aachen, Germany, did not dwell on these concerns when he uploaded a photo of his 3-year-old ragdoll cat, Mali, into ChatGPT’s new image generator tool. He requested the tool to convert it into the Ghibli style, resulting in an anime image resembling Mali and reflecting the painstakingly drawn feline characters from films like “My Neighbor Totoro” or “Kiki’s Delivery Service.”
Lingeswaran expressed his admiration for the result, considering printing it for display. The tool produced similar transformations for iconic images as well, such as the appearance of Turkish pistol shooter Yusuf Dikec in a casual T-shirt at the 2024 Olympics, and the famous “Disaster Girl” meme of a 4-year-old smiling at the camera while a house fire blazes in the background.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and currently involved in copyright lawsuits over its flagship chatbot, has largely supported the “Ghiblification” trend. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, even updated his social media profile picture to a Ghibli-style portrait. In a technical paper, the company announced a “conservative approach” to mimicking the aesthetics of individual artists. OpenAI stated that they included a refusal mechanism to prevent generating images in the style of living artists, but they allow broader studio styles for creating original fan works.
Studio Ghibli has yet to comment on this trend, and both the Japanese studio and its North American distributor did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Meanwhile, previous remarks by Miyazaki regarding AI animation resurfaced. In a 2016 documentary, Miyazaki expressed disgust after viewing an AI demo, condemning the technology for failing to grasp human experiences and declaring his intention never to incorporate such technology into his work.
Josh Weigensberg, a partner at the law firm Pryor Cashman, raised questions about whether the AI model used for these Ghibli-style images was trained using Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli’s work, questioning the legality of such training without permission. He noted that while “style” is generally not copyrightable, specific elements of an artwork might be, potentially leading to concerns if those elements appear in AI-generated content.
Artist Karla Ortiz, who is pursuing a lawsuit against other AI image generators for copyright infringement, criticized OpenAI for utilizing Ghibli’s brand and reputation to promote its products, labeling it as exploitative. Ortiz argued that this practice disrespects and exploits the artistic contributions of creators.
This story originally appeared on Fortune.com.
