OpenAI recently rolled out a powerful new AI image generator inside ChatGPT, and it’s sparking both delight and deep concern — especially thanks to one curious trend: the “Studio Ghibli-fication” of absolutely everything. Internet users flooded platforms with everything from whimsical family portraits to AI mashups of memes and famous characters, all done in delicate, dreamlike Ghibli style. But as The Vergecast explores, what starts out as fun quickly veers into murky legal territory. The Verge’s Kylie Robison joins the show to break down how this tool, while artistically impressive, also highlights the fragile line between creative inspiration and outright appropriation. With imagery being generated en masse in the style of iconic artists and studios who never signed up for this, it begs the question: what rights do creators have when AI learns from their art — without their permission?

🎨 Key Takeaways:

• OpenAI’s new image generator built into ChatGPT is more powerful, versatile, and accurate than any before it — and it’s becoming wildly popular for its ease of turning text prompts into richly styled images.

• A bizarre phenomenon emerged: social media timelines flooded with AI images mimicking the iconic hand-drawn style of Studio Ghibli, best known for films like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke.

• “Everything is getting the Ghibli treatment,” joked Vergecast hosts, pointing out that even memes like The Distracted Boyfriend were being reimagined as Ghibli art.

• The artistic runaway success has a dark side: it raises major questions about copyright, artistic theft, and how AI models are trained — often on copyrighted works without any agreement from creators or studios.

• As Kylie Robison puts it, “The lawsuits are basically writing themselves,” with artists and rights holders increasingly alarmed by AI replicating their original style.

• OpenAI has already acknowledged its AI tools are overwhelmed, saying “our GPUs are melting” as they limit image requests due to massive demand.

• ChatGPT’s image tool represents the next wave of generative AI, competing with tools like Midjourney, DALL·E, and Google’s new Gemini AI with real-time video output.

• Companies like Microsoft and Google are also rolling out “deep reasoning” AI models, suggesting we’re entering another AI arms race.

• No Studio Ghibli official response yet — but given Hayao Miyazaki’s known distaste for soulless automation, it's likely they'd be unimpressed.

📌 Most talked-about AI tools from the episode:

• OpenAI’s image generator inside ChatGPT Plus (latest release)
• Google Gemini AI (featuring real-time video generation)
• Microsoft Copilot with deeper research capabilities
• Midjourney & DALL·E 3 still in the mix for art generation

So, while those floaty, magical Ghibli-inspired portraits may look cute on your feed, they’re part of a bigger storm brewing over consent, creativity, and control in the age of AI.
Link to Article