ChatGPT’s Ghibli-style AI images are everywhere. But who started this trend?

By now, the Ghibli-style AI art trend needs no introduction.

It’s everywhere on social media. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Amitabh Bachchan to Elon Musk, several personalities have participated in it.

Amid the craze, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has also come under fire from fans of legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki , who criticise the trend and have opened discussions about the ethical concerns surrounding AI tools trained on copyrighted creative works.

ALSO READ | What is Japan’s famous Ghibli art? How did ChatGPT make it a viral trend?

But do you know who started it? This person launched what would become a massive social media trend across platforms, leading to debates about copyright infringement and the ethical use of artificial intelligence.

Let’s find out:

The man who started the Ghibli-style AI art trend

Grant Slatton, a software engineer based in Seattle, played a major role in popularising this trend.

On Tuesday afternoon, shortly after OpenAI introduced its upgraded image-generation tools, he posted a photo on X featuring his family and dog at the beach, transformed into an animated style.

He captioned it: “tremendous alpha right now in sending your wife photos of yall converted to studio ghibli anime.”

While AI-generated anime-style images are not new, Slatton’s post appears to have sparked the latest surge in interest.

His tweet quickly gained traction, with retweets and replies pouring in as others experimented with the feature. As of writing, it has received 45,000 likes and nearly 49 million views.

Speaking to Business Insider, Slatton said he has been flooded with messages from X users sharing their own attempts.

“It’s the single most net-positive day I’ve ever seen on Twitter.”

“I got hundreds of DMs and replies telling me their spouse or kids or grandparents loved the pictures,” he told the publication.

Slatton had previously created an animation-style image of his family in December 2023, but at the time, OpenAI’s DALL-E model required a highly detailed prompt to achieve the desired look.

ALSO READ | Do ChatGPT’s Ghibli-style images violate copyright?

However, ChatGPT generated the new image with a quick and easy prompt of “convert to studio ghibli please,” he told BI.

He described the response as overwhelmingly positive, stating that even some critics of AI-generated art were posting their own “Ghiblified” images.

Users unable to access the feature also reached out with “heartwarming” requests for their family photos to be transformed, he said, adding that he had processed over 100 images.

What is Ghibli?

If you are still confused about what Ghibli art is, we will break it down for you.

Founded in 1985 by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki, Studio Ghibli is an animation studio known for its stunning visuals and compelling storytelling.

The studio has built a global fanbase with its signature hand-drawn animation, meticulous attention to detail, and deeply emotional narratives.

Some of its most iconic films include My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Princess Mononoke.

The name “Ghibli” originates from a Libyan Arabic word meaning a hot desert wind. It was also the name of the Italian aircraft Caproni Ca.309 Ghibli, used during World War II.

A Ghibli-style portrait captures the essence of Studio Ghibli’s distinctive aesthetic. It features hand-drawn characters, soft pastel or muted colour tones, intricate details in both foreground and background and an overarching sense of magic or wonder.

ALSO READ | Is your data at risk when you use ChatGPT’s Ghibli art generator?

Do ChatGPT’s Ghibli-style images violate copyright?

Concerns have been raised over the ethical and copyright issues surrounding the replication of a particular artist or studio’s style - an ongoing debate in the artificial intelligence industry.

A clip from a 2016 documentary featuring Hayao Miyazaki has also resurfaced, showing the director’s reaction to an unsettling AI-generated zombie-like animation.

Legal experts state that OpenAI’s actions fall into a legal grey area.

Evan Brown, an intellectual property lawyer from the US-based firm Neal & McDevitt, told TechCrunch that artistic style is not explicitly safeguarded under copyright laws. This suggests that OpenAI is not legally infringing on any rights by creating images resembling Studio Ghibli’s work.

However, courts are still deliberating whether AI developers should be held accountable for training their models using copyrighted content.

In a technical paper published last week, OpenAI stated that its latest 4o tool follows a “conservative approach” when recreating the artistic styles of individuals, according to the Associated Press (AP).

“We added a refusal which triggers when a user attempts to generate an image in the style of a living artist,” the company said.