Ghibli AI Art : The Internet's Disastrous New Obsession
From the magical amusement park Chihiro explores in ‘Spirited Away’ to the Oscar-winning ‘The Boy and the Heron’, Studio Ghibli animations are known for their breathtaking visuals and nostalgic stories of human lives.
These films take several years to make and are tediously hand-drawn. Each frame is crafted with utmost care.
But today, even a random twelve-year-old on social media can be seen “creating” in the Ghibli art style.
Studio Ghibli-Style AI "Art"
OpenAI’s new image generation tool lets you generate images in this iconic art style in seconds. This new tool has gained immense popularity as people change their photos and even famous memes into Ghibli-style portraits. Even Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has turned his X profile into a Ghibli-style portrait of himself.
On the other hand, there are even some users who have used it to generate violent and disturbing images, including the 9/11 incident and the murder of George Floyd.
Every rose has its thorn.
While the rest of the internet is enjoying and experimenting with this trend, a noticeable number of netizens are disgusted and disappointed.
Legendary animator and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki is the magician behind the masterpieces.
Ironically, his whimsical storytelling explores human experience and celebrates nature.
It is a known fact that Hayao Miyazaki despised machine-generated art and had openly criticized it before, stating it as an “insult to life itself” and that “whoever created it has no idea what pain is whatsoever”.
This whole trend goes against the ethos of Studio Ghibli.
What even is art?
Art can’t be generated; it just has to be created.
“Ai art” is not art. It blindly copies what it’s fed, and it doesn’t know the intention behind it.
With AI you generate an image. You post it online and move on with your life. You are nothing but a viewer doing what is a glorified Google search. But with art, you made it.
You spend your time and energy on it. Finally, you get that blissful feeling of accomplishment when it’s finished. Art is something that has emotion, soul and heart in it. It is never about making it look good in the end. It’s about the journey. The journey that one goes through with the art piece is what makes it art.
The worst piece of art you can imagine is far better than whatever AI spits out—because someone decided to pick up a pencil and try.
Ghibli AI "Art" vs Handmade Work: The bottom line.
Art is not about instant gratification, fame or recognition. Sure, validation feels nice, but the whole point of any creative pursuit is self-expression, AI can never replicate that. It does not understand human experience.
AI art may be perfect and look amazing, but aren’t flaws, mistakes and imperfections what make art human?
In all seriousness, AI will be here to stay, but why people want to take a shortcut and replace our forms of self-expression and creativity is lazy, and honestly an insult to life itself.
If you are an artist discouraged by AI, don’t give up. Your creations will always be invaluable. No matter the skill or amount of experience you have.
If you use AI art, think again. Why are you devaluing human effort for something lifeless like AI? Why are you going against Miyazaki’s words if you love his art?
— Fatima Navab
Editor's Note
I enjoy social media trends. However, this one is offensive to not just Studio Ghibli but also to art itself.
Thank you, Fatima, for speaking up about this. I am sure your thought-provoking words will make a difference.
Also, sorry for making your blog more passive-aggressive than it already was.
— Mehak
