Disclaimer: I can’t draw, so I used AI to create this: a robot (disguised as a cute creature from Ghibli’s world) killing the next budding artist.
If you compare the written work that AI generated three years ago to what ChatGPT generated last year, the difference is mind-boggling. And, if you compare artwork that AI generated six months ago to what can be make today, the difference is… well, what can I say, nothing short of revolutionary.
When OpenAI launched its new ChatGPT image generation feature, it took just two days for social media to explode with Ghibli-like renditions of everything from celebrities to memes to personal photos.
Editor’s note: This story represents the views of the author of the story. The author is not affiliated with HackerNoon staff and wrote this story on their own. The HackerNoon editorial team has only verified the story for grammatical accuracy and does not condone/condemn any of the claims contained herein. #DYOR
Studio Ghibli has a very distinct art style, thanks to its co-founder Hayao Miyazaki’s approach, which focuses on hand-drawn techniques. Frames are hand-drawn by artists (like Kazuo Oga), and all characters possess traits shaped by the human touch of the artist.
It’s an unmistakable style, one that evokes a sense of nostalgia, innocence, and beauty—an experience that connects with people on a deeply emotional level. Anyone who has watched a Miyazaki film can immediately identify the Ghibli style, and it’s precisely that recognition that makes it so magical when people see themselves, or even memes, rendered in that familiar world.
But not everyone is happy about this trend…
Some art lovers and creators have voiced concerns, and for good reason. The implications of AI-generated art bother people, but for anyone who’s been paying attention, the question of whether AI will destroy artists and the livelihoods of people isn’t one of “if,” but “when.”
Your blood might be boiling, but I am already in the fifth stage of grief (acceptance) and have already given up!
So, I think it’s okay to generate images in the Studio Ghibli style to give yourself some joy because there will NEVER be another Ghibli or Pixar. If we consider what we have today and what might come in the next 5 or 10 years, it’s more than clear that there’s no room for the next budding artist with a unique sense of creativity.
A career in any creative field is now far too risky, and there’s simply no room for a learner to progress into greatness or for a great artist to be well-funded when “good enough” can be produced at a fraction of the cost.
As AI continues to advance, you would have to be a genius from the start to secure work in many fields. There will barely be any room for an entry or average-level writer, coder, designer, photographer, artist, or model to find decent work.
Right now, AI is already capable of producing work at about 80% of an average human’s quality level, and it can do so at a fraction of the cost. Imagine where we’ll be in five years. Most businesses will likely choose AI-generated work that is a 7.5/10, given its significantly lower cost, rather than paying a premium for a 10/10 human-created version when the difference is often indistinguishable to the average person.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the sheer amount of time and resources that went into creating a single scene in a Studio Ghibli film. A four-second scene from The Wind Rises (2013) took an animator one year and three months to complete. Why was so much time invested? Because it was a Ghibli film, and such dedication is what defines the studio’s legacy. But this level of investment would never be spent on the next budding artist, not when AI can deliver good enough results far quicker and cheaper.
Again, don’t focus on what we have today, consider where we’ll be in five years. A career in art will be extremely risky for the next generation, as most businesses won’t pay you if you’re anything less than above average.
Hobbyists will keep the creative spark alive, but art as a career? That’s simply not worth doing. No business would fund the creativity or uniqueness of an unknown artist at the cost of profit margins when AI can deliver decent results for a small fraction of the cost. I’m not blaming businesses for this; it’s simply a matter of economics. Investing resources in an artist in the hope that they might one day become the next great is no longer a sound strategy. There might be a criticism of capitalism here but that is a whole different story.
And for those still in denial, AI doesn’t need to be better than a skilled human; it just needs to be good enough for your clients not to care. Plus, not all humans are equally skilled anyway.
If you love art, whether as a creator or a viewer, embrace the last hurrah and the joy that Studio Ghibli and its style bring us, because there will NEVER be another great artist in the future. You might disagree, but I will wholeheartedly generate a few images as I process what a historic moment this is for art, knowing things will never be the same. Even if you don’t participate, someone else will, and there’s no stopping this.
For me, this is a feeling of melancholy as we admire groundbreaking human art styles, perhaps for the very last time.
TL;DR: AI exists to widen the gap between the labor class and the wealthy while eliminating jobs. Protecting big studios is the least of our concerns now. The genie can’t be put back in the bottle. After visualizing what’s to come in the next five years, it’s better to accept and embrace this final celebration of art as the next Miyazaki ceases to exist.
Postscript
My take on some very obvious criticisms and questions that might arise from this article.
“Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is whatsoever. An insert to life itself”???
While I truly believe tech companies are wrong for stealing everyone’s work, including Miyazaki’s, it would also be wrong to sensationalize Miyazaki’s quote out of context. He made this comment after watching a demo of a horrifying, zombie-like creature with strange movements generated through AI in 2016. He also said the grotesque zombie movements reminded him of friends with disabilities and he thought that was an insult. Clearly, his comments were specifically in the context of that demo and cannot be taken as his stance on generative AI art 9 years later. As of now, there has been no statement from the studio, and we do not know how he feels about all of this. He most likely hates AI companies stealing his style but does he also hate fans for generating personal photos because they like his style?
Shouldn’t we blame and shame people for using this?
As always, the anger is more directed towards regular people by those who feel intellectually superior. It is easy to punch below the belt. So, instead of protesting against our overlords, people find it much easier to criticize and hate the common people.
The problem isn’t regular people generating cute pics for their own amusement; the problem is corporations stealing the work of everyone to train AI and putting people out of their jobs. The problem is when you use those works (like Studio Ghibli, which always promoted peace) to create hate speech and political propaganda.
And, no common folk is using the Ghibli style and claiming it as their own original style. It’s an inspiration and a homage. If you think it’s wrong, would you have also said the same thing if an artist hand-drew something in a popular style as a homage? Is it an insult to Michael Jackson to do the moonwalk poorly? Is it an insult to the original singer if I sing a song poorly in front of my friends?
Is AI-generated art not art? What if it’s based on my unique input?
Many people would argue that a banana taped to a wall is not art, but people have paid millions for things like that. So, art can’t be defined by boundaries. If a digital artist has a character in mind and uses existing vectors and elements provided by the sketching tool to create their work faster, is that not art? If it is art, why is it not art if somebody is bringing their imagination to life using AI? Both have the same outcome, with only the technique being different. Yes, the art style is a remix of what has come before, but do all hand artists use original art styles without doing any derivative work?
If you say AI art is still art, why are you saying art dies today?
Art will always exist in some form. What dies today is the birth of groundbreaking art styles because:
- It is simply no longer a good career option for most to pursue.
- Businesses wouldn’t invest resources into creating any genre-defining work (the next Miyazaki) because it isn’t worth it. When good enough can be created at 1/100th the cost, most businesses would avoid investing in traditional styles.
“Photography did not kill painting and digital art didn’t kill traditional art”?
Yes, photography did not kill painting, but is the demand for paintings the same now as it was during the French Revolution? Also, digital art did not eliminate traditional art; it significantly devalued it. Would people pay 10X more for human digital art when AI art can do the job? Forget people, will businesses pay?
Will art become a more premium product?
Yes, scarcity drives value, but that will be reserved for only the best. Even though handloomed clothes are now expensive, most handloom workers in India are displaced. The same will happen to art and other fields. Unlike in the past, when high-quality work commanded top dollar while mediocre work still earned a livable wage, the future where AI surpasses mediocrity will leave room only for the very best to sustain a career in many fields. That also means those who imitate will no longer have a career because AI does all the imitation now!
Can we stop this?
No, there is no putting this genie back in the bottle. If a country regulates or restricts AI, some other country will make it. And, even if a scenario existed, open-sourced copies of several tools exist which can be run locally by businesses. Plus, do remember that businesses control the governments in most parts of the world. If they want AI, they will use AI. It might be unfortunate but there is no other way!
