If you “shake” on social media you have come across a string of style images Japanese cartoon Evidently you had a face to face with what the media have renamed “Ghibli Mania”. The illustrations shared online by users of every part of the world do not come from the master’s pencil Hayao Miyazakico-founder of the famous Japanese animation house Studio Ghiblibut were made with the help of Chatgpt. The chatbot of Openaifor a few days it has a new powerful generator of images based on the GPT-4O model, which has been used to transform famous photos and memes into illustrations by the unmistakable aesthetic of Maestro Miyazaki, creator of masterpieces such as The enchanted city, My neighbor Totoro or The wandering castle of Howl. The number of requests sent to the chatgpt servers was so high that the down that struck Chatgpt and Sora on March 31 would be attributable to the “Ghibli Mania”, at least according to some hypotheses (not yet officially confirmed).
This phenomenon, however, has created many controversies related to copyright and the use of AI to replicate copyright protected works. Openi, who already faces legal battles on the topic, has initially allowed the rapid generation and sharing of Ghibli-style images with the new GPT-4O model, and then blocks it following the chatter that has spread with equally speed on the web.
Image generator: Openii policy
This story begins with the release of the New GPT-4O-based images of imagesthe Multimodale model of Openai. Users quickly discovered that it was possible request images in the style of the Ghibli studiogenerating soul versions of famous people, viral memes and personal photos. Among the best known cases, there is that of Janu adheswarana German entrepreneur who uploaded the photo of his cat Mali, obtaining an illustration in perfect Miyazaki style. Enthusiastic about the result, he even thought of printing and framing him. Similar “experiments” led to the creation of ghibli versions of iconic images, such as the Meme Disaster Girl or the shot of the Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec At the 2024 Olympics.
The virality of these images has aroused great attention, not only among fans of Japanese animation, but also among the copyright experts. Openii, who has long been at the center of legal disputes for the way he trains his models, published a declaration in which he claimed to have adopted an approach “conservative»To avoid imitating the style of living artists. “We have added a refusal that triggers when a user tries to generate an image in the style of a living artist“Said the company directed by Sam Altman that on his social profiles he replaced his real photo with a modified Ghibli style.
The company’s policy seems to make one distinction between individual artists and animation studiesallowing the reply of “wider study styles». This has raised doubts about the coherence of the guidelines: Miyazaki is still alive, yet the Ghibli style images are allowed or, at least, have been so far.
THE’absence of official comments from the Ghibli studio on these last events He did not prevent the declarations of Maestro Miyazaki on artificial intelligence. Already in 2016when he was a animation made by an AI, he had reacted with disgust, saying that he would never want to “incorporate this technology into his work». For him, the artistic process is linked to human sensitivity and, according to him, the use of AI in art represents a lack of respect for life itself. Strong words, which show the point of view of the Japanese artist on the “art generated by AI” issue.
“Ghibli Mania”: right or wrong? The question is complex
From a legal point of view, the question is decidedly complex. Josh Weigensberga lawyer expert in intellectual property, he highlighted that the main node is to understand if Openai used images of the Ghibli studio to train his model and, if so, if he has obtained a license to do it. Currently, the copyright law does not protect an artist’s “style”, but can protect distinctive and recognizable elements of his works.
The situation also turned on the debate among the artists themselves. Karla Ortizillustrator and activist against the unauthorized use of AI in art, defined the “ghibli mania” “Another clear example of how companies like Openai do not worry about the work of the artists and the means of subsistence of the artists».
Faced with the growing criticisms, Openai apparently changed its restrictions. Some users who tried to generate Ghibli -style images after the initial boom found themselves in front of a refusal by the chatbotwhich now claims to not be able to satisfy the request due to the content policies. We too have tried to generate Ghibli style images on chatgpt to check how things are and, although no message that indicates the impossibility of proceeding, in fact the chatbot did not return the desired output and literally impalled. This change of course suggests that Openai is reviewing its position, perhaps in an attempt to Avoid further legal complications.
