ChatGPT Starts Blocking Studio Ghibli-Style Images After Trend Goes Viral

Right after OpenAI debuted its new GPT-4o image generation capabilities, tech bros flooded the internet with AI-made cartoons and memes imitating the style of the iconic Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli.

The wave of ersatz Ghibli art was inescapable in AI spheres. One particularly viral example depicted JFK's assassination. Many have uploaded personal photos to be redrawn into a still from a Ghibli movie.

Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman join in on the fun, tweeting a joke about the trend and changing his profile picture to a Ghibli-style image of what appears to be himself, done up to look like one of the young, wide-eyed protagonists in the studio's movies.

Then came the minor setback in the plot. Despite the trend seemingly getting Altman's personal blessing, it appears that ChatGPT has started refusing requests to generate images in Ghibli's style, Business Insider reports.

This was joined by widespread user complaints on social media that the AI platform is no longer playing along with their prompts to ape the animation studio.

There is significant ambiguity, however, over whether this was an intentional intervention by OpenAI.

With its latest GPT-4o powered image generator, OpenAI has emphasized its robust guardrails around depicting real people. In regards to style, however, it takes a more laissez-faire stance.

"Our goal is to give users as much creative freedom as possible," an OpenAI spokesperson told 404 Media. "We continue to prevent generations in the style of individual living artists, but we do permit broader studio styles."

The Studio Ghibli trend greatly challenges this stance. In one sense, its distinct visual mode falls under a "broader studio style." But what people widely understand to be the Ghibli aesthetic was pioneered by animation legend Hayao Miyazaki, who directed and animated the vast majority of Ghibli's most well-known films — and is very much a living artist.

In light of the reports that ChatGPT has started refusing Ghibli prompts, we reached out to OpenAI seeking clarification on whether it implemented additional guardrails.

An OpenAI spokesperson responded with the same statement the company had provided to other outlets, which we quoted above. The spokesperson didn't address if OpenAI had instructed the chatbot to refuse Ghibli requests.

In our own tests, when queried if GPT-4o has restrictions on generating images in the style of Studio Ghibli, ChatGPT replied: "Yes, GPT-4o has restrictions on generating images in the style of Studio Ghibli. Studio Ghibli's art style is copyrighted, and I can't create images that explicitly mimic it. However, I can generate images inspired by similar themes."

Separately, an update Altman shared online today suggested that this is all some sort of mix-up, saying that "we are refusing some generations that should be allowed; we are fixing these as fast we can." 

Again, no direct mention is made of the Ghibli trend. More than a few of the replies to Altman's update are from fans inquiring about using Ghibli's style.

In any case, the dust is yet to settle. The Ghibli trend has provoked nearly as much backlash as it has inspired eager participation. The effrontery of the rampant AI imitations is heightened by Miyazaki's personal views on the use of AI in art — he famously called it an "insult to life itself."

"Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is whatsoever. I am utterly disgusted," Miyazaki said in a 2016 documentary. "If you really want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself."

By now, Miyazaki's stance on the technology is well-known in both tech and art circles. And so is his dedication to environmentalism, which generative AI, with its gruesome carbon footprint and excessive water wastage, is virtually the antithesis of. It's likely that many who are gleefully peddling facsimiles of his life's work are aware of this. After all, that is what generative AI excels at: imitating.

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