GUWAHATI: What would you do if you woke up one day to find your life’s work—your hard-earned skills—replaced by AI? The very craft that once put food on your table now reduced to something anyone can generate with a simple prompt. Where does that leave you?
ALSO READ: "AI Is Insult To Life Itself," Old Video Of Japanese Animator Goes Viral Amid Ghibli AI Phenomenon
Social media is buzzing with AI-generated images in Studio Ghibli’s signature style—originally created by Japanese animators Hayao Miyazaki, Takahata Isao, and producer Suzuki Toshio in 1985. Miyazaki, who has two Academy Awards to his name—one for Spirited Away (2001) and another for The Boy and the Heron (2024)—has long been vocal about his distaste for machine-made art.
Now, an old video of the legendary animator calling AI-generated art an “insult to life” has resurfaced online.
Earlier this week, ChatGPT’s latest model, GPT-4o, gave free and paid users the ability to create high-quality images in Ghibli’s dreamy, hand-painted style with a single prompt. The internet wasted no time, churning out meme after meme, reimagining their favourite moments in the beloved aesthetic.
The viral clip, taken from a 2016 NHK documentary, shows Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki being introduced to an AI model capable of animating human movements. Miyazaki’s reaction was sharp—he rejected the technology outright, saying AI could never understand the pain and emotion that go into creating real art.
His words have reignited the debate on creativity versus artificial intelligence. Many Ghibli fans believe AI-generated versions of the studio’s work go against everything Miyazaki stood for.
“To unironically admire AI-generated Ghibli art is to disregard the very essence of craftsmanship. The years of dedication, the meticulous hand-drawn frames, the emotional weight Miyazaki infused into every scene—reduced to a soulless algorithmic output,” wrote the Global Community of Creative Professionals and Culture Enthusiasts on Instagram.
Another post on X (formerly Twitter) shared a four-second clip from The Wind Rises (2013), noting that animator Eiji Yamamori spent a year and three months completing it. A stark contrast to the instant results AI now offers.
This four second crowd scene from Studio Ghibli’s The Wind Rises (2013) took animator Eiji Yamamori 1 year and 3 months to complete pic.twitter.com/RyOngP2o60
— Anime Aesthetics (@anime_twits) March 27, 2025
Many artists have spoken out against the trend. Illustrator Pranita Kocharekar urged people not to take part in something that disrespects a legend’s legacy. “Studio Ghibli deserves better, Miyazaki deserves better, artists deserve better,” she wrote on Instagram.
Another illustrator Sumouli Dutta wrote, “It is sooooo extremely annoying and painful to see artists creating it and selling it as content! Basically no ethics. Such a sad day for art community. I don’t get why people don’t get it. I actually unfollowed a few artists today who all posted such things. I mean seriously?”
Despite the backlash, AI-generated Ghibli-style art is everywhere. From meme pages to government accounts, everyone seems to be riding the trend.
So, where does this leave real art and the artists?
It's been 24 hours since OpenAI unexpectedly shook the AI image world with 4o image generation.
— Barsee (@heyBarsee) March 26, 2025
Here are the 14 most mindblowing examples so far (100% AI-generated):
1. Studio ghibli style memespic.twitter.com/E38mBnPnQh
