Anyone with even the smallest level of knowledge of anime will know the legendary film studio Studio Ghibli. For over 40 years now, Studio Ghibli has produced some of the most iconic and beloved films in not just anime, but animation, as a whole, and there are few creators, professional or amateur, who haven’t cited at least one of their films as an influence on their style.

Studio Ghibli’s influence on art and animation is undeniable, but not all of it is a good thing, especially when it comes to AI. Following the rise of AI art in recent years, it’s become a trend for people to use AI to remake art in the style of their favorite works, and OpenAI helped open the floodgates to Studio Ghibli AI renders this week. Thanks to a new image generation tool, a flood of AI-driven Studio Ghibli content is sweeping the web. As such, Hayao Miyazaki’s statements about AI in art and animation are trending, sparking other creatives to weigh in themselves.

Studio Ghibli And Other Creatives Hate What AI Art Tries To Do

What Anime’s Biggest Names Think About AI

As AI imitations of Studio Ghibli’s style continue to flood social media, so too have Hayao Miyazaki’s thoughts on AI art. Several years ago, Japanese media company DWANGO presented Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki with a demonstration of using AI to render a zombie, and after taking one look at it, Hayao Miyazaki said he was disgusted with AI technology and considered it an insult to life. Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, as a whole, have always maintained a traditional work style, so his having such a visceral reaction to AI makes perfect sense.

A recent spike in AI renderings of Studio Ghibli’s art style caused Hayao Miyazaki’s old comments to start trending on social media, and other people have weighed in on it, as well. Naturally, many fans of Studio Ghibli and animation, in general, have decried the idea of using AI to copy Studio Ghibli, and on a professional level, Yoshihiro Watanabe, the producer of Orange’s Trigun Stampede, also decried AI art by saying that “the only Studio Ghibli is Studio Ghibli”. The trend of using AI to imitate other people’s styles is almost universally hated, and it’s easy to see why.

Anime Fans Hate AI, No Matter How Much Companies Keep Trying To Push It

Why Anime Fans Will Never Embrace AI

The recent pushback to AI renderings of Studio Ghibli’s art has been big, but unfortunately, it’s nothing new. Ever since AI started taking off, fans and creatives alike have reacted negatively to not just seeing it on an amateur level, but to seeing companies try to use it, as well, with Amazon’s statements about using AI for anime dubs being a recent example of notable fan backlash. The way that anime companies insist on trying to make AI the new standard is continuously met with vitriol from fans, and the recent Studio Ghibli discourse is merely the latest example.

As for why people are reacting so negatively to AI, that’s easy enough to see. Not only does AI look uncanny at best and flat-out horrible at worst, but the very concept of AI, to many, exists largely as a means to produce work as quickly and cheaply as possible so companies don’t have to pay people who put actual effort into their craft. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure creator Hirohiko Araki has said that AI runs the risk of creating “a world of con artists”, and with how willing companies are to embrace it, it’s hard to argue with that idea.

What Needs To Be Done To Stop AI From Taking Over Anime & Animation?

How Can Anime Be Protected From AI?

AI is one of the biggest issues plaguing animation and art, in general, and that begs the question of what can be done about it. There isn’t anyone on an amateur or professional level who isn’t aware of the issues surrounding AI, and while there isn’t anything that can be done to stop people from using AI, AI can still be fought by having people speak out against AI whenever it’s being used and refuse to engage in it. Hollywood has had several strikes surrounding AI in recent years, so that sort of protesting is nothing if not effective.

A more practical way of handling things, however, might be trying to find a compromise. AI software is only an issue when people try to use it to handle everything in the creative process, so if people can’t get rid of AI, entirely, then it might make sense to relegate it to small tasks like slightly touching up images and scripts as opposed to creating the entire thing. It’s probably going to be years before any sort of true solution is found, but whatever the case, Studio Ghibli won’t be relying on AI anytime soon, and that’s great to see.

Source: @crazynabe on X.