From Spirited Away to My Neighbor Totoro, there's no mistaking the signature look of a Studio Ghibli film.

The studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki's distinct style — characterised by whimsical characters, richly detailed backgrounds and a dreamlike atmosphere — has captivated audiences for decades.

Now, thanks to a new version of ChatGPT, that same enchanting aesthetic has become accessible to the very audience who enjoy experiencing his art to recreate and mimic them.

On March 26, Seattle-based software engineer Grant Slatton posted two identical images of him, his wife and dog at the beach on his personal X account.

The Studio Ghibli-style image was created using OpenAI's ChatGPT-4o and it has intrigued many worldwide. The post has since gone viral and, at the time of writing, it has garnered almost 6,000 retweets along with 45,000 likes.

According to US news site Geekwire, Slatton was "among the throngs of users" who used the image generator as a tool to recreate Studio Ghibli-style art.

Since then, many have followed suit and social media has been flooded with these AI-generated images.

It's adorable, easy to create and instantly recognisable. What's not to love?

Dividing opinions

Whether it's recreating iconic images, personal family photos or well-known memes, most people jumping on this trend would see it as nothing more than a harmless activity.

But not everyone is pleased about AI's role in recreating this distinct style of art — not least Hayao himself. 

This clip from a 2016 documentary series has Hayao expressing disgust after he was shown AI-generated animation. The 84-year-old filmmaker described it as "an insult to life itself".

While he has made no official statement regarding the recent trend of people "Ghiblifying" their images and photos, knowing his past stance on the use of AI in art certainly adds a layer of complexity to the discourse around the trend.

A Reddit post published six days ago on the subReddit r/movies has drawn many reactions in calling out this trend, describing it as "an utter insult to the studio and anime/cinema in general".

The post has garnered more than 5,000 comments, with some agreeing with the post's sentiment while others "don't care or see why anyone has the time and energy to care". 

When we are presented with a tool that can mimic the famed animator's work, is it ethically right to participate?

Take this four-second scene from Studio Ghibli's The Wind Rises as an example.

Hayao was adamant that it had to be hand-drawn, with no CGI effects so the entire painstaking animation process took 15 months.

On the other hand, the countless examples of AI-generated art mimicking Studio Ghibli's style is created almost instantly.

What does it say when we skip all that effort while generating AI art in the exact same style?

'Should be done with consent and respect'

A community that's most suited to be at the forefront of this discussion are the individuals working in the art industry.

Speaking to AsiaOne, illustrator and artist Dorcas Tang was clear on her stance regarding the use of AI to generate complete artworks, particularly when the original artist in question has a distinct style. 

The 25-year-old added: "AI has yet to be regulated, especially on what it should [or] shouldn't be trained on, so this feels like a breach of trust and respect."

Goh Wei Choon, co-founder of popular webcomic The Woke Salaryman, sang a similar tune.

While he doesn't classify such technological breakthroughs as innately unethical, the 36-year-old is cognisant of its potential risks.

Being a business owner and artist, Wei Choon also admits to feeling "torn" on the matter. He sees the opportunities AI-generated art offers but the artist in him also believes there's a sense of threat given the speed at which AI has developed to superficially mimic human art.

Wei Choon added: "As far as possible, it should be done with consent and respect to those whom you take from."

The question then becomes: Is it fair to expect the everyday person to fully grasp the many layers and perspectives surrounding this debate?

Many creating Studio Ghibli-like art and images of themselves online would say they're doing so out of admiration and appreciation for the art. So is the act alone disrespectful?

For Dorcas, this trend could be seen as an homage to Hayao had he consented for the art to be accessible in this manner.

She said: "It is not an argument that this is something that disrespects his original work."

Wei Choon noted that respect takes effort.

"Most laymen won't have that understanding of Hayao Miyazaki's stance without deeper research, so I think empathy and gentle persuasion are always the first step when it comes to educating others about the issue."

Hayao's lack of official objection should not be taken as consent either, he added.

AI-generated art: Tool or threat?

Zooming out to the industry as a whole, the trend might have people wondering about the future of art and what kind of role AI plays in it.

Dorcas mentioned that she's lucky to not be impacted by AI-generated art as her work is both "very personal" and "process-based".

"I'm grateful that my creative practice does have an emphasis on process and inspiration so I have not personally felt a loss of jobs because of AI," she said.

But this may not be the case for all artists, especially those who specialise in producing a single visual piece such as a portrait or editorial illustration.

Whether AI is a tool or threat would depend on the individual on both sides, the ones creating the art and the ones appreciating it.

Through the lens of an artist, AI can probably be seen as unwelcomed competition, cranking up the difficulty level in an already "underpaid" and "undervalued" profession, as noted by Dorcas.

While Wei Choon is certain that "high-skill jobs" within the industry will still exist, he admits AI-generated art will disrupt "low- to mid-level" artists.

He uses a video game project as an example. They may require artists to design background textures or images in a game that a player barely sees, such as paintings on a wall or newspaper articles.

Wei Choon claims that AI can be called in to do a "reasonably" good job, and instead of a whole team, one would only need a skeletal crew of cleanup artists to correct the errors made by AI.

He said: "I think artists can still find work post AI, but you have to be good at your craft, and you need to do it in an interesting way because professional day jobs that need your artistic labour will be all but gone, for the most part."

For the rest of us claiming to be appreciators of art, this trend offers a rare glimpse behind the curtain — into the mechanics of how AI simulates human creativity.

Its ability to mimic one's creative imagination is as impressive as it is unsettling.

While Dorcas sees AI-generated art as "lacking soul", both artists acknowledge that, to the untrained eye, it can be indistinguishable from human-created art.

"I don't think it matters a lot if they can't [distinguish the difference]," Dorcas said.

"But I do think that if more people appreciated art, it would help artists feel more valued within society and be more supported.

"It's important to show that we care about art that is made with soul and skill, not just the final product."

amierul@asiaone.com

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