Over the past week, the “elementation” trend has swept the internet, with celebrities, tech leaders and even the White House using OpenAI’s latest tools to generate images in the style of Japanese studio Ghibli. Hayao Miyazaki, the seclusion masterminder behind the iconic animation style, has not yet publicly commented on this AI-driven development. But according to his past statements, the 84-year-old filmmaker may look at trends in uneasy ways, a warning to the deep human nature that AI may distort the core of his work.
In the 2016 documentary, a Japanese media company sought feedback from Hayao Miyazaki about using AI in animation. A demonstration is presented to the artist, depicting an animation of a zombie body being dragged by the head as if it doesn't feel pain or know how to protect the head. Miyazaki, obviously uneasy, commented: “No one who creates this kind of thing knows what pain is or any pain. I feel totally disgusted…I never want to incorporate this technology into my work. I strongly feel this is an insult to life itself.''
Founded in 1985 Together with Miyazaki, director Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki, Studio Ghibli is known for making movies that combine Japanese folklore with hand-painted details and profound emotional storytelling. In 1996, Walt Disney Company (DIS) signed a distribution agreement to bring Miyazaki’s work to audiences around the world. 2003 Oscar wins Thousands and Thousands of SeekThis is the first anime to win the Best Animation Feature Award, solidifying Ghibli's studio into an international film.
Unlike Hollywood studios that spun towards CGI animation in the early 2000s, Ghibli insisted on celluloid animation, a traditional technique in which artists use it to hand-draw transparent paper for each frame, called “cells.” Miyazaki personally sketched thousands of frames for each project, Stick to the details of that human level Authenticity cannot be forged.
Although Miyazaki doesn’t completely resist innovation, he never favors a full digital workflow. In the late 1990s, Studio Ghibli integrated digital tools such as Toonz (later Opentoonz), allowing its animators to digitally color and perfect their drawings. However, ear and witch (2020) is the studio’s first all-3D movie, which has received frigid comments that have overwhelmed fans by the lack of Ghibli’s hand-painted soul.
Is it legal to use AI to create Ghibli-style images?
U.S. copyright law does not protect visual styles, so it is technically legal to treat any image, especially if the user does not work for commercial purposes. “From a copyright perspective, anyone can use an animation style to tell and illustrate their own images and stories,” Randall McCarthyIP lawyers tell the observer. “Studio Ghibli may claim copyright infringement only if it generates a specific character working through AI and is highly similar to the movie.”
Unless the user McCarthy explained that “enough human control” can be shown during the creative process. “Only generating openai tips is not enough to show enough human control, so neither these images nor memes have 'Ghibli-style' input tips.
Still, the speed and volume of AI’s ability to produce these images sparked a moral debate. “OpenAI training for Ghibli data is a classic example of AI model training for AI models without any compensation or credit. Today, someone can imitate an iconic style like Ghibli without some hints and almost no consequences,” Jason Zhao, co-founder of AI-Power IP Power Ip power Ip power Ip toknization Platform storytell the observer. “It’s a kind of failure to recognize the value of creative identity in the digital age.”
Openai has faced multiple copyright lawsuits claiming to limit its AI image model to the style of replicating the living artist. The company is Recent technical papers.
